New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole returned to the rotation last week after missing the start of the season because of nerve inflammation and swelling in his throwing elbow. As frustrating as that ordeal must have been for Cole, his second start back on Tuesday, a loss against the New York Mets (box score) may have matched or exceeded it. That’s because Tuesday’s outing served as just the second time in his Major League Baseball career that he did not record a single strikeout.
Rather, Cole yielded six runs on seven hits and four walks. He gave up four home runs — one apiece to Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader, and two to Mark Vientos — for the first time since June 2022, when he allowed five home runs against the Minnesota Twins. As mentioned above, Cole failed to punch out any of the 21 batters he faced. He generated just five swinging strikes and saw each of his pitches average at least one mph lower than they did compared to last season’s norm, according to Statcast.
The Mets would hang on through an Aaron Judge grand slam to win 9-7.
After the game, Cole explained that he was trying to balance command with “intensity,” presumably his way of explaining his down velocity. He added that he didn’t give the Yankees a “good chance to win tonight.”
The only other time in Cole’s MLB career that he’s departed without notching a strikeout came on May 20, 2016. Then, as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he delivered seven one-run innings against the Colorado Rockies. Back in 2013, Cole threw 5 2/3 innings of one-K ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s managed at least two strikeouts in the rest of his 299 appearances.
Cole, 33, is the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. In his first start this season, against the Baltimore Orioles, he surrendered two runs on three hits and a walk across four innings of work. Cole is now in his fifth season with the Yankees. He entered Tuesday having amassed a 3.09 ERA (136 ERA+) and a 5.23 strikeout-to-walk ratio over the course of his first 109 appearances (all starts) with the Bronx Bombers.
