NEW YORK -- While the New York Yankees play the 2025 season without him, Gerrit Cole's mind is on clearing checkpoints in his recovery from elbow reconstruction surgery last month.
Two-and-a-half weeks ago marked a milestone: removing the brace protecting his right elbow. The next major one comes in August when he plans to throw a baseball again, commencing a program he hopes will continue into the 2026 season without a hitch.
"It starts out really dark," Cole said, speaking to reporters for the first time since the surgery. "And then you work your way closer to the end of the tunnel."
The plan is for Cole to reach that light, and pitch in major league games again, 14 months after the procedure. That timeline puts Cole's return in mid-May of next year. But Cole insisted he doesn't have a return date circled.
"The only thought I've given to 2026 is just to try to execute the first eight weeks so far of this rehab," Cole, 34, said. "Like you're growing bone and stuff so it's been important to get good sleep and eat well and progress through the rehab.
"I hope it comes back maybe like a fresh new set of tires. That's best hope. Just a pit stop that took a little longer than we had hoped for. But I really don't know. Who's to say? People are fairly confident. I'm a bit pragmatic, though."
Cole's elbow reconstruction surgery included inserting an internal brace, a measure taken to fortify the elbow to reduce the chance of reinjuring the ligament in the first year back. The procedure, which has become popular in recent years, is different from Tommy John surgery, the only option to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament for decades.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery in Los Angeles. He also performed Tommy John surgery on fellow Yankees starters Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, giving Cole two in-house resources during his rehabilitation process.
"They know the protocol really well," Cole said. "But it's been very nice to receive the support. It's been meaningful and it's been very helpful from the guys in this room and other people that have pitched out as well."
Cole said his elbow injury didn't stem from one pitch; he described it as a chronic occurrence after years of pitching and nearly 2,100 major league innings between the regular season and postseason. He knew something was wrong when he had trouble bending his elbow the day after throwing 54 pitches in a Grapefruit League start.
The injury surfaced nearly a year to the day after Cole was shut down because of inflammation and edema in his right elbow, which pushed his season debut to June. Cole, coming off winning his first Cy Young Award, was brilliant at times and pitched through October, making 22 starts between the regular season and postseason. But he acknowledged the injury, his first significant elbow issue after 11 big league seasons without one, could have been a precursor to requiring a UCL reconstruction.
"I defeated the odds for so long and the anatomy of the elbow had looked the way that it did and so it was like, 'Well, it's still working. So, who's to say that it can't?'" Cole said. "But it did catch up to me. But I feel good about getting everything we could out of it up to this point.
"So, hopefully I'll take a lot of the things that helped me fight it off for so long will help me on the back end. I still think those are good habits and good for sustainability. I think it'll play well as I come back."
Cole said he has reported to Yankee Stadium six days a week since the start of the season for rehabilitation sessions that range from about 90 minutes to two hours. He has stayed for games, but he preferred to remain in the clubhouse and out of the way as a precaution in the early stages. Now, after reaching the eight-week checkpoint -- one he described as significant -- he anticipates being around the team more, dishing out advice.
"As we're moving into this phase, I get to kind of be involved and feel like I'm contributing a little more," Cole said. "It's probably good for my mental state, my heart."
Cole played a similar role, acting as another pitching coach, for the beginning of last season. But he knew he would eventually return to contribute from the mound. This time is different as the Yankees move forward with a patchwork rotation that also was without Clarke Schmidt to start the season and remains without Luis Gil (lat) and Marcus Stroman (knee). The Yankees entered Monday ranked 10th in the majors with a 3.62 starters' ERA despite Fried's AL-best 1.01 mark.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he recently spoke with Cole about assuming a more visible role for game preparation and in-game help.
"Now that he's out of the brace and out of the initial [period] where it's cumbersome, it's hard, you're processing it all, I want to encourage him to start being Gerrit, being around and doing his thing and offering what he does," Boone said. "We've had that conversation, and I think he's looking forward now to just adding to that."
Eventually, down toward the stretch run of the season, Cole will go on the road with the club. For now, he is spending more time at home. He's dropping off his children at school and picking them up. He's attending Little League baseball and soccer games. It's family time he didn't envision during the baseball season, not until retiring. It has lifted his spirits.
But he still misses competing. So much so that every night, before falling asleep, he said he imagines pitching in his mind, playing out sequences and scenarios. It's going well.
"I haven't given up any hits recently," Cole said with a smile.