Gerrit Cole's inability to avoid throwing home runs is startling
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole shouts at home plate umpire Brian Knight during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Gerrit Cole allowed two homers in the Yankees’ 5-4 victory over the Red Sox on Friday night, giving him 31 homers allowed this season, the second-most in the sport, in 188 1/3 innings.
And though Aaron Boone again somewhat downplayed the issue late Saturday morning, it very much is a topic of discussion behind the scenes, and calling it at least a mild concern is not a stretch as October beckons.
“I thought he threw the ball awesome last night,” Boone said. “I thought everything from pitch usage, use of both sides of the plate, use of both breaking balls, I thought body language and everything [was good]. It is remarkable [the homer total], but it was a pretty dominant outing. One pitch at the end wrecks the line and we’re doing all we can to avoid those certain things. But it's a little crazy that that has happened.”
The craziness Boone referred to was the fact that seemingly every time Cole misses on a pitch, the opposition turns it into a home run rather than a line-drive single or double — or lineout or long foul ball.
Cole, who allowed four runs on the two homers and gave up five hits in six innings, struck out eight to give him 244 for the season, the second-most strikeouts in a year in franchise history behind the 248 fanned by Ron Guidry in 273 2/3 innings in 1978. Cole is 12-7 with a 3.49 ERA in 31 starts.
“The bottom line is we've got a guy that I feel like he's throwing the ball incredibly well right now and has every capability of going out there and dominating,” Boone said. “And we just have to continue to prepare and have him go out there and, if he executes at a high level, he can shut down anyone. He's in that place to do that. We have to get through that hump and then the only thing that is going to change that narrative is to go out and avoid that one big one. But that's all it's been is one big one here or there. You have to avoid that to go to the next level, but I'm confident we can get there.”
Not good
Zack Britton, who spent the season on the injured list recovering from Tommy John surgery, made his season debut Saturday and it did not go well. Britton faced five batters and retired one of them, allowing three walks and a hit. His bases-loaded pass to Triston Casas brought in a run to make it 5-4. Lou Trivino bailed Britton out, coming on with the bases loaded, striking out Bobby Dalbec and getting Reese McGuire on a grounder.
“I want to be much better than that,” Britton said. “Movement was good, it’s just a matter of commanding it. That’s the next step.”
Boone closing in
Exactly one week after earning his MLB-leading eighth ejection, Boone was ejected a ninth time, which still leads the majors, on Friday night against the Red Sox. He was thrown out by Brian Knight not long after the plate umpire tossed Cole following the sixth inning. Cole felt squeezed on a 1-and-2 pitch to Alex Verdugo, and on the next pitch, Verdugo hit a tying three-run homer. It was Cole's first career ejection.
Boone, thrown out five times in his 12-year big-league career, has been run 26 times as Yankees manager. He shared the AL lead in ejections at six in 2021 with Oakland’s Bob Melvin, who now manages the Padres. The last manager to reach 10 ejections in a season was Atlanta’s Bobby Cox — MLB’s all-time leader in ejections with 162 — who was thrown out 10 times in 2007. The last AL manager to reach 10 was Jerry Manuel of the White Sox in 2003. The Orioles' Earl Weaver, fourth on the all-time list in ejections with 96, reached 10 once, in 1975.
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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