New York Yankees fans should be very excited for the remainder of the week, as right-hander Gerrit Cole is finally going to be back in the Bronx on the mound.

Cole, one of the best starters in Major League Baseball history, underwent Tommy John surgery last year. He hasn’t pitched on a big league mound since 2024, making this one of the most exciting things to watch for the remainder of the season.

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“It’s just a blessing to play the game and you get a better sense of that once you’re removed from it,” Cole said, per Jorge Castillo of ESPN. “Just getting back into that environment, and not taking that for granted, it’s exciting for sure.”

There’s definitely a side of this good news that suggests the Yankees and Cole will need to slow some things down and hope he throws the baseball at the level we all expect.

This isn’t some random reliever coming back from an injury, as Cole is one of the greatest starters in Major League Baseball history, and there is a hope that he’s going to continue dominating hitters at the highest level. If not, the Yankees are going to be a much different team than most expected them to be.

It sounds like Yankees skipper Aaron Boone understands that, adding that while he expects him to be very good, he also understands that there’s going to be some bumps in the road, and those are to be expected.

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“He hasn’t been in that flow of competition for 17 months,” Boone said, per ESPN. “That being said, it is Gerrit Cole and what we’ve been watching for the last few months, and his build-up and his sides and his rehabs, he looks great.

“My expectation is that he’s going to be really good. Will there be some bumps along the way or navigating getting back into that full level of competition at this level, sure, but that’s part of it too. But at the end of the day, I expect him to come in and pitch well for us.”

Every pitcher who comes back from an injury typically deals with some sort of adversity early on. It’s possible that Cole will even struggle a good bit to start things off. It’s not going to be easy to return to the highest level, but I have a lot of confidence in him being able to do so, given his past.