Gerrit Cole's first live batting practice session comes with less fanfare this year
New York Yankees' Gerrit Cole delivers a pitch during a spring training baseball workout Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
TAMPA, Fla. — The scenes could not have been much different.
A little more than a year ago, Gerrit Cole’s first live batting practice session at Steinbrenner Field was nothing short of an event. Club hierarchy crammed into seats directly behind home plate, media fanned out all over the stadium for the best angles for pictures and videos, and a little more than 1,000 fans created a palpable buzz.
As Cole, signed that offseason to a nine-year, $324 million contract, put it after the outing: "That’s the first time I got a standing ovation for my first live BP, I can tell you that."
Thanks to COVID-19 protocols, the righthander’s first live batting practice session of 2021 spring training took place not at Steinbrenner Field but at the club’s minor league complex, with some team hierarchy and media watching — though not nearly as many — and, of course, zero fans in attendance.
"Yeah, I mean, last year, I recall it, obviously, with fans in the stands over at Steinbrenner, the buzz that surrounded it, probably filmed by so many people," Aaron Boone said Monday. "Just that anticipation of obviously being a newly signed superstar player. There was a lot more fanfare that came with it."
Cole, coming off a 2020 season in which he went 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA, threw 26 pitches Monday, with all indications that he came through the outing just fine.
"I feel really good about where Gerrit’s at at this point of the spring," Boone said.
Down goes Schmidt
The Yankees, injury-plagued the last several seasons, suffered their first injury of spring training when righty prospect Clarke Schmidt, 25, was shelved for at least three weeks after an MRI revealed a strain of his right common extensor tendon. Boone said the injury is not related to the area of the elbow that was repaired by Tommy John surgery in 2017.
"It’s on the other side of the elbow," Boone said, using "tennis elbow" as a comparable injury. "His ligament [repaired by surgery], is intact and fine . . . they think that's probably a three- to four-week shutdown."
Urshela almost ready?
Gio Urshela, who had a bone spur removed from his right elbow in early December, said a few weeks ago that he didn’t anticipate being ready for the start of spring training games. But the third baseman, who is allowed to work out with pitchers and catchers because he’s rehabbing, has progressed a bit faster than expected.
"It could be at the start [of games]," Boone said. "He’s doing really well. He’s doing everything he needs to do right now to be game-ready. Whether it’s to start or not, it shouldn't be too far into it."
The Yankees’ first Grapefruit League game is scheduled for Sunday at home against Toronto.
Welcome back
Reliever Adam Warren, in his fourth stint with the Yankees after agreeing to a minor-league deal in December, could not be happier to be back in Tampa with the club.
"Wearing the pinstripes always felt like home to me," said Warren, 33, drafted into the organization as a fourth-round pick in 2009. "It’s special for me. It’s emotional coming back."
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
More Yankees headlines
