Daily Report – 5/28/26

Yankees

Gerrit Cole is one sly fox.

His first start after Tommy John surgery was already impressive enough. Last night, in his second start, Cole bested himself with 6 2/3 breathtaking innings of scoreless baseball as the Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals for the 14th consecutive time, 7-0.

Cole looked just like his old self, but during his recovery, he made a significant change that has baffled hitters everywhere. He added an over-the-head windup to his game, similar to that of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, which has translated into pinpoint command. He struck out 10 batters yesterday without walking anybody.

But Cole didn’t simply alter his delivery style. Last night, he mixed his old windup with his new one, and it paid dividends. Cole understands that an over-the-head windup means he will be slower to the plate, so yesterday, when he had runners on base, he would sometimes return to his former, shorter delivery. He earned nine of his 10 strikeouts with his over-the-head windup.

Wait — it gets better. Cole didn’t just fool hitters with his windup, but he baffled them with a new pitching arsenal. For the first time since 2017, Cole has used his sinker more than 10% of the time. The only reason to make this change is longevity, since Cole was consistently available between 2017 and 2023.

Granted, two starts are a small sample size, but Cole does everything for a reason. There is always a method to his madness, if you will. So, his new windup mix and pitching arsenal are definitely a sign of things to come, and perhaps they will make Cole an even better pitcher than before, which feels impossible to imagine.

Cole’s changes powered the Yankees past the Royals yesterday. The veteran right-hander was remarkably efficient for the second straight time, using just 79 pitches across 6 2/3 frames. In fact, he struck out his first nine batters with 57 pitches. Overall, Cole generated 15 whiffs and struck batters out with four types of pitches. He only put a three-ball count on two batters.

According to Katie Sharp, this was the first time in Cole’s career that he shut out opponents in each of his first two starts of any season. “Feels like maybe the first game was a little appetizer, and that was the main course,” said manager Aaron Boone. “He was dominant and had everything going.”

Said Cole, “I think it’s coming along. There’s still stuff to work on in general. We moved the ball around the strike zone well tonight. Maybe we didn’t get through the fastballs as well as we could have, but with what we had tonight, I thought we used it well.”

I don’t know who “we” is, and man, Cole is picky. He generated one hard hit on 32 fastballs. What is he complaining about? But if nothing else, the 35-year-old Cole is a perfectionist. With all the stories we’ve heard over the years about how pitchers are never the same after Tommy John surgery, or how it takes at least one season for a pitcher to return to his former self, Cole has a lot to be proud of.

“I think when I first started throwing [during rehab], and I was able to get through the four-seam [fastball] better than I had been in the previous few years, that was an encouraging sign,” Cole said. “Outside of that, it’s two games, a small sample. There’s still stuff to improve.”

In the third inning, Aaron Judge helped Cole maintain the “0” on Kansas City’s side of the scoreboard. With two outs and Michael Massey at second base, the speedy Maikel Garcia singled to right field. Judge played the ball on one hop and fired it cleanly, 240 feet, to home plate, where Austin Wells tagged Massey out.

Judge was excited to assist his ace. “He’s one of the greatest to ever do it,” Judge said. “You see it with starts like this, where you come back from a major surgery, and it looks like he hasn’t even skipped a beat.”

After Massey, Cole only allowed one runner to reach scoring position. “Aaron made a great play,” Cole said. “The mood in the dugout was, ‘Okay, we’ve got to have a little urgency.’ That was a big tone-setting play for us.”

The Yankees responded immediately in the top of the fourth inning. Noah Cameron retired each of his nine batters, but he didn’t fare as well his second time through the order. Leading off the fourth, Paul Goldschmidt singled with a full count, and Ben Rice plated him with his first triple of the season.

Then, Judge lifted a hanging slider to right field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Rice and putting his team ahead 2-0. The Yankees didn’t score again until the seventh inning, with Nick Mears on the mound. Pinch-hitting for Amed Rosario, Trent Grisham led the inning off with a single.

On May 8, Grisham had a .182 batting average, but his expected rate was 53 points higher. Now, on May 28, his batting average is .206, much closer to that expected rate. He squares up on pitches 39.1% of the time, which ranks in the 99th percentile of Major League hitters. In his last seven games, he is 11-for-24 (.458).

After Grisham’s seventh-inning single, Anthony Volpe walked, and Ryan McMahon singled as well to load the bases. Two outs later, Paul Goldschmidt walked to move the chains, and after a pitching change, Ben Rice singled to put the Yankees ahead 5-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, after Grisham walked, McMahon homered with two outs. It was his fifth home run of the season, and it gave the Yankees a 7-0 lead. With two outs this season, the Yankees lead the league with 25 home runs, 116 RBI, a .265 cumulative batting average, and an .830 team OPS.

Camilo Doval closed out the game for the Yankees, earning his second straight scoreless appearance with a 1-2-3 inning. The righty has struggled with command this season, but velocity hasn’t been an issue. He threw his two fastest pitches yesterday at 102.8 and 101.8 MPH. The 102.8 MPH pitch was the game’s final pitch, a cutter to Vinnie Pasquantino.

Today, the Yankees are off as they prepare for a three-game weekend series in Sacramento against the Athletics. Yesterday, the Yankees received positive news about Giancarlo Stanton, whose most recent MRI showed significant improvement in his strained right calf. Stanton is expected to start running as soon as today. The injury hasn’t stopped him from hitting, though.

Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees