Gerrit Cole didn’t want any part of the suggestion that he was gutting it out through a hamstring injury, and all we can do is take him at his word.
After another substandard performance on Wednesday night, the Yankees ace shook off a question about whether he was 100 percent healthy before I even got it out. If he’s being a hero, he doesn’t want to reveal it.
Whatever the cause, Cole’s fastball suddenly lacks life, his results have slipped badly from their previous Cy Young form, and he’s giving the Yankees an unexpected source of Wild Card game agita.
Can you imagine if the team, having fought so hard to reach that game, ends up going home because its ace lays an egg?
Cole left his start against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 7 with the hamstring injury. He missed one game against the Mets, and returned a few days after the Subway Series to face the Baltimore Orioles. He has a 6.35 ERA in the four-game stretch that began with that win over the Orioles.
On Wednesday, with the chance to essentially bury the Blue Jays in the wild card race, Cole died quickly by the fastball. He surrendered four extra base hits to the first nine Toronto batters, all on fastballs.
He ended up allowing five runs in six innings, though the final one was the result of another outfield misplay by Joey Gallo, who failed to take charge of a popup that dropped between him and Gio Urshela. Cole did improve as the night went on.
Velocity was not the issue, as he was sitting 97 mph and touching 100. But if you watched closely, you could see that the fastball lacked the late life and rise that if often possesses, and that Cole induced just three swings-and-misses on the heater.
Manager Aaron Boone explained it as Cole trying to ‘“tunnel” his pitches to spots on the corners, and having it “leak” into too many swing paths.
