Gerrit Cole to undergo Tommy John surgery, will miss 2025 season

Gerrit Cole to undergo Tommy John surgery, will miss 2025 season

After undergoing “diagnostic tests” on his throwing elbow, New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2025 MLB season, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan reported Monday.

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament and miss the 2025 season.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 10, 2025

This comes on the heels of former MLB executive Jim Bowden reporting that Cole was “recommended” to have Tommy John surgery, but was seeking a second opinion on the diagnosis.

According to source, Gerrit Cole has been recommended to have TJ surgery… but they are now waiting for a 2nd opinion to confirm the diagnosis #Yankees

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) March 10, 2025

Cole’s injury comes on top of reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil having to miss the next three months with a lat strain. Cole missed the start of last season with elbow inflammation. In 17 starts last season, he pitched to a 3.41 ERA with a 3.69 FIP, but his fastball velocity, whiff rate and strikeout were all noticeably lower in the limited sample.

Nevertheless, this injury is more bad news for the Yankees’ rotation. They signed Max Fried to an eight-year deal this offseason but now Carlos Rodon moves back to the No. 2 starter and Marcus Stroman–who the team was shopping this season–becomes the team’s No. 3 starter.

Those two arms–plus Clarke Schmidt, rookie Will Warren and veteran Carlos Carrasco (should he make the roster)–all become very important for New York. It had a fringe top-10 rotation last year and, even with Fried’s addition, ranks similarly heading into 2025 as of right now.

More stress will also be placed on the Yankees’ improved defense. Cole’s injury eliminates perhaps the team’s best swing-and-miss arm in their rotation. They’re better up-the-middle defensively, but it should be interesting how that translates to the regular season without their ace.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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