Cole posted a video to his Instagram story on Saturday, tossing a fastball during a recent bullpen session at Yankee Stadium.
The 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner has been throwing since August and has said that it is “fair to say” he expects a relatively normal offseason, which he said would include continuing his rehab in California through the winter months.
“We have a good setup in California and good communication,” Cole said in August. “I can upload my throwing program to the [internal] platform and pretty much talk every day. There’s not a whole lot of urgency to get [to Tampa] right away.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said recently that the club does not expect Cole, who turns 36 during the upcoming season, to be ready for Opening Day.
Cole underwent a complete UCL reconstruction that included an internal brace and was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. A 14-month recovery was forecast at the time of the procedure. That remains in play, raising the possibility of Cole returning to a Major League mound sometime in May.
The Yankees are preparing to begin the regular season with Cole, left-hander Carlos Rodón and right-hander Clarke Schmidt all on the injured list.
Rodón underwent surgery to remove loose bodies and a bone spur from his pitching elbow and will be delayed “potentially a couple of weeks” to begin the season, according to manager Aaron Boone.
