Yankees ace Gerrit Cole expected to start Game 1 of ALDS, but it's not definite
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole looks on against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
ARLINGTON, Texas — Gerrit Cole is still the safe bet to start Game 1 of the Yankees’ Division Series matchup against either Cleveland or Tampa Bay next Tuesday at the Stadium, but it’s not the lead-pipe lock it once seemed.
Though Aaron Boone said last week during an appearance on the Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio that Cole would be the Game 1 starter, the fifth-year manager equivocated a bit on that Wednesday.
“No, it hasn't not changed, I just want to make sure that's the way I want to go, and we'll finalize that here probably over the next 24 hours,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Rangers in the final game of the regular season.
The notion of Cole, signed to a nine-year, $324-million deal before the 2020 season, not being the clear No. 1 for a playoff opener would have been laughed at previously, but not after how this year played out.
Cole, to be clear, was mostly terrific, going 13-8 with a 3.50 ERA in 33 starts. The righthander set a single-season franchise record with 257 strikeouts, breaking the previous mark of 248 set by Ron Guidry in 1978.
But Cole also surrendered a career-high — and American League-high — 33 homers, which is at least mild concern for the club going into the postseason.
Going strictly by 2022 resume, Nestor Cortes had the best season of any Yankees’ starter, going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts. And Luis Severino, 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts overall, looked flat out dominant in three starts after returning from the 60-day IL in the middle of last month. In his most recent outing, Monday against the Rangers, Severino threw seven no-hit innings before being removed after 94 pitches.
“It’ll definitely be a discussion,” one organizational insider said Tuesday of who will start Game 1 Tuesday. “Definitely.”
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.
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