What happened to Gerrit Cole? Yankees ace to be monitored after possible injury against Rangers
Gerrit Cole was taken out before the start of the seventh inning of the New York Yankees' game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Monday night. The Yankees ace grabbed his right calf when he was warming up on the mound after the seventh-inning stretch. Cole then called the trainer and the manager out onto the field before walking off to the dugout unassisted.
Prior to his exit, Gerrit Cole had an excellent outing as he allowed only a single run through the first six innings. He gave up just one walk while he had nine strikeouts in the game and also retired the last nine batters he faced.
The Yankees later announced that Gerrit Cole suffered a cramp on his right calf and that the extent of the damage would be "monitored and reassessed" on Tuesday, per MLB.com
Cole also discussed the issue when he spoke to reporters after the game.
"My calf started cramping on the finish [to the pitching motion]," Cole said. "And I tried a couple of things to get it to stop. It just didn't stop. So, it didn't seem like it was going to go away."
"I didn't think it was the right situation to keep trying to manipulate it out there," he added.
This was the first time that Cole was set to pitch beyond the sixth inning this year. The 33-year-old has only made 13 starts so far after missing the opening 75 games of the season due to elbow inflammation that he suffered in spring training.
"I had a similar situation last year": Gerrit Cole on his calf issue
Gerrit Cole revealed that the issue that he had on Monday was not the first time he had experienced it. The Yankees right-hander stated that he had encountered the same problem when he was pitching on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023.
"I had a similar sitaution in LA last year against the Dodgers," Cole said during his interview. "I was able to manage it for a couple of innings until it was too much."
"I jogged out here and didn't feel like walking or moving around or anything," he added. "For whatever reason, [there was discomfort] on the follow through."
Relief pitcher Luke Weaver entered the game in the seventh inning as the Yankees held on to an 8-4 win over the Rangers in the opening clash of their three-game series.