Losing Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery didn't doom Yankees
Gerrit Cole #45 of the Yankees pitches during the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Back on Aug. 3, when Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery shockingly were placed on the COVID-19 injured list, it seemed like a very big deal.
There was concern for the players’ well-being as well as the fear of another Yankees outbreak. From a baseball standpoint, the loss of two of the team’s top starting pitchers for an indefinite period also had the potential to have a crippling impact.
Yet the Yankees barely noticed their absence.
It’s hard to comprehend. Maybe it’s because Aaron Boone & Co. have been scrambling all season and are used to this, but the Yankees simply called up Luis Gil after only eight starts at Triple-A Scranton and again leaned on Nestor Cortes Jr. to help fill the void, and it worked.
The Yankees went 11-4 since Cole’s last start on July 29 and the rotation remained among the best in the American League. Their starters ranked fourth in ERA (3.56), WHIP (1.17) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.42) and fifth in opponents’ batting average (.234).
If not for Andrew Heaney — the Angels import at the trade deadline — those numbers would be significantly better, considering his 9.00 ERA in three starts (eight homers in 15 innings) since putting on pinstripes. But the Yankees are sending out Heaney again Wednesday against the Red Sox, and with Luis Severino’s status in limbo — Boone ominously declined to reveal Monday’s MRI results — they’ll still have a spot to reconsider.
Otherwise, the pieces are falling back into place. Cole returned to start Monday’s makeup game against the Angels and Montgomery is set to split Tuesday’s Red Sox doubleheader with Gil.
Boone wasn’t sure what to expect from Cole and Montgomery as they come back from COVID. The two hadn’t done much in the way of organized prep work during their two-week quarantine. But both appeared to be in good health on the eve of their returns, with Boone planning to be a little more cautious than usual in handling their innings.
As for riding out COVID, neither Cole nor Montgomery had a dangerous bout with the virus — Brian Cashman suggested both pitchers had been vaccinated — so there didn’t figure to be any lingering effects, other than maybe some rust from the inactivity. Montgomery didn’t sound too concerned about that, either.
"I actually feel incredible," he said Monday afternoon. "I just tried to do the best with the time that I had and get myself as ready as I could."
Montgomery described a regimen that involved throwing a ball against a wall, something that kept him occupied before graduating to a quarantine catch with Cole. He also suggested that the extended break might even help him recharge for the stretch run.
That’s something we hadn’t thought of with all of the other worries involved with the pandemic, but it’s certainly possible. Once pitchers get to late August, they often are running on fumes, counting on that playoff-push adrenaline to get them through the remainder of the season. Maybe in this case, Cole and Montgomery got a chance to press the reset button for the next six weeks and beyond.
With so many setbacks over the course of this season, the Yankees have managed to fortify their rotation by finding some unexpected depth. While Cortes had shined as a shutdown reliever, no one could have predicted a lefty Luis Tiant, flashing that twisting, deceptive delivery en route to a 2.73 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in six starts.
Calling up Gil for that emergency Aug. 3 start in place of Cole felt like a Hail Mary at the time, given that he began the season with Double-A Somerset and had a 5.64 ERA in eight starts after a fairly recent promotion to the RailRiders. But Gil, who’s yo-yo’ed between the Bronx and Scranton for roster purposes, looks as if he belongs, pitching 11 scoreless innings over two starts, with 14 strikeouts and three walks.
"I feel really good and prepared," Gil said Monday through an interpreter. "I worked really hard to get here and I feel relaxed going into the game . I’m looking forward to it."
The Yankees shouldn’t have anxiety, either, when it comes to the rotation, an ever-revolving group that could wind up being at its best for the most critical juncture of the season. Just make sure Jameson Taillon (4-0, 1.68 ERA in eight starts since July 6) has a mask handy when social distancing isn’t possible.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
