The Yankees' Worst Fears Are Now Confirmed, Gerrit Cole Needs Tommy John Surgery

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Sports are incredibly stupid. You wait a whole offseason just to get excited about your favorite team for a few weeks before games start up again only for it all to get snatched away from you. As I blogged the other day, there has been terrible fear about the right elbow of Gerrit Cole. On Sunday we found out for certain that he is being recommended to have the most dreaded three words in all of baseball - Tommy John surgery. 

What a gut punch. Even if I knew this was happening a few days ago, to see it actually happening is so fucking sad. It appears Cole's elbow was in fact a ticking time bomb, set to go off at any moment. It's why the Yankees laughed at him and Boras when they came to them in offseason asking to tack on an extra year to his contract. It's why the Yankees were so aggressive in the offseason in adding a front line SP. At some point Cole was gonna go down for good and unfortunately he didn't make it until Opening Day of 2025. 

The Yankees roster is still fine, but it's nowhere near good enough to win a World Series. After losing Juan Soto they pivoted to strengthening the pitching staff, both starters and bullpen. Max Fried and Devin Williams would put them over the top and give them one of the best pitching groups in the game. Without Luis Gil for at least three months and now Cole, you're strength is now worse off than it was last season. The lineup is average, relying on former MVPs to channel back their prime selves and young guys stepping up big time. Unlike last year, there is no sole protector at this moment for Aaron Judge in the lineup which will prompt teams to give him a free pass to first base frequently. 

The AL is incredibly weak compared to the NL so it's definitely possible for this team to make the playoffs, but realistic title dreams are very bleak at the moment. Unless someone hacks Cashman's phone and trades for a guy like Sandy Alcantara then I don't see it. Obviously I'll still grind and watch every game because I'm a sicko, but the air has been sucked right out of the balloon. Depression is here. I love sports, this is awesome. Why couldn't I just be a hipster from Brooklyn who frequented bars that didn't think about installing TVs?