Credit: Mark Brown/Getty Images
When Gerrit Cole will pitch his first real game for the Yankees is still unknown, but he is staying ready.
The New York Yankees made a big splash this offseason, signing Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million contract. He has become one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he cashed in as expected.
Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down MLB spring training, Cole made the last of his four spring appearances on March 10. The challenge for all athletes who have been on indefinite hiatus is keeping themselves in playing shape, and also keeping their job-related skills sharp. Cole has surely been throwing quite a bit on his own over the last three months, with some sort of sessions pitching off a mound a virtual certainty. But he has taken it to another level with his own little hype video.
Gerrit Cole hits up the bullpen at Yankee Stadium in video for fans
Set to the Alisha Keys’ song “Empire State of Mind”, Cole tweeted out a video with a clip of a more formal bullpen session he did. Oh, and he apparently took a little trip to Yankee Stadium for said bullpen session.
Using the term “clip” to define the bullpen session is apt, as the video shows Cole throwing exactly one pitch. How many pitches he threw in the bullpen at Yankee Stadium can’t be known, and this may not have been his first time making he trio to get some pitching in. But Cole is clearly trying to stay ready for whenever the 2020 MLB season starts, and how many games it winds up being. At a glance, the one pitch seemed to have plenty of juice.
Yankees fans surely feel a little bit teased by Cole right now. His team debut will surely come whenever “Opening Day” is, and it’s probably still at least a month away at this point. But on the other hand, watching someone throw a pitch is refreshing for all baseball fans right now.