BY DAN GLICKMAN
New York Yankees ace and defending American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole will have at least two more rehab starts, keeping open the possibility that the right-hander will pitch against the Rochester Red Wings at Innovative Field.
Several outlets, including the Associated Press, have quoted Yankees manager Aaron Boone saying that Cole will need “at least a couple more” starts after his initial rehab appearance for AA Somerset on Tuesday night. Cole went 3.2 scoreless innings in that outing, throwing 45 pitches in his first game action since going on the injured list with nerve inflammation in his elbow in March.
Cole will pitch for Somerset again on Sunday. If he continues his usual rest schedule, his third rehab start would fall on Friday, June 14. The question is: where?
As mentioned previously, major league organizations usually like to have their rehabbing pitchers play at home venues. However, both Somerset and the AAA Scranton RailRiders will be on the road on Friday- with Scranton in Rochester. The Yankees could send Cole to a lower minor league, such as the High A-ball Hudson Valley Renegades, but they may also decide that Cole should face a higher level of competition before returning to the big leagues and have him play on the road.
If the second option is what the Yankees choose, Rochester may have an edge. As a AAA team, the Red Wings would provide a higher level of competition to Cole in his possible final rehab start than if he were to play against the AA Binghamton Mets. In addition, Innovative Field was built, maintained, and remodeled to a higher standard than most stadiums in lower leagues. Plus, the Yankees are familiar with Rochester, having based their AAA Scranton team in the city in 2012 while Scranton’s ballpark was under renovation.
Attendance-wise, Friday’s 6:45 game was already expected to be a big day for the Red Wings. Games against the farm teams of locally popular teams like the Yankees often draw well regardless, but the Red Wings also have several promotions scheduled. Those include post-game fireworks, a Flag Day flag giveaway, and a Negro Leagues salute featuring an appearance by Denard Span– one of the most popular players from Rochester’s time as a Minnesota Twins affiliate.
Should the weather play nice and Cole makes a rehab appearance, it could be one of the best-attended games all season, perhaps even one of the best-attended games in the stadium’s history. Innovative Field has a history of hosting big crowds for big-time pitchers, including a stadium regular-season record of 13,584 when Andy Pettitte rehabbed for the Rochester-based Scranton team during the 2012 season. The highest regular season Red Wings game attendance also featured a Yankees starter: Hideki Irabu drew 13,485 on June 30, 1997.
Right now, however, it is all theoretical. Any news on Cole’s destination for his third rehab start will likely come after his rehab start on Sunday or in the days following.
Whether the Red Wings will face Cole or not, they first need to finish their series at the Worcester Red Sox. After winning the series’ first two games, the Wings have dropped three straight, including an 8-2 defeat on Saturday. They’ll go for the 3-3 series split on Sunday at 1:05, with right-hander Spenser Watkins (2-2, 4.83) on the mound against Worcester righty Richard Fitts (4-1, 3.72).
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