TAMPA — While the Yankees prepared for their first spring training game against the Orioles in Sarasota on Friday morning, a different exhibition took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field. There, Gerrit Cole faced live hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery roughly a year ago. The spectacle drew a swath of front office members into the stands and delayed the arrivals of pitching coaches Matt Blake and Preston Claiborne in Sarasota. “Thought he was sharp,” Blake said via text. “Good life. Good to get the first one under his belt.” Cole only faced three hitters and threw about 20 pitches on Friday. However, his fastball consistently hit 95-96 mph and topped out at 96.9 mph, a positive sign as he showed off his new, over-the-head windup and worked from the stretch. Cole fanned the first hitter he faced, Trent Grisham, with a high, 95-mph heater before getting Aaron Judge to hit a sharp grounder to second base. Jasson Domínguez then got Cole with some hard contact to right field that may have split the gap had there been defenders roaming. That line drive aside, Judge raved about Cole’s outing. “His stuff is still electric. That’s the amazing thing after a grueling, long rehab,” the reigning MVP said. “To see 97 already, so early in the process, means nothing but good things for us down the road, that’s for sure. “To me, it looked just like any other year where he’s pumping 97 mph, he’s working the corners, he’s attacking the strike zone. It looked like the old 45 that I’ve seen for years. “If you would have told me he just got off of Tommy John and this was his first time facing live hitters — you would have never known.” Gerrit Cole fans Trent Grisham, his first batter of the day. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/OZhLDyJo4E — Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) February 20, 2026 With his day over, Cole received high-fives from Judge and other encouraged teammates before taking off with his wife, Amy, and children, Caden and Everett. The three attended the live batting practice session, Cole’s most meaningful step in recovery to date, and watched from behind home plate. So far, Cole’s rehab has gone according to plan. He and the Yankees have left the door open for him to pitch in exhibition games before spring training ends, though Cole will have to build up during more live BP sessions first. Last week, Cole reiterated that full Tommy John reconstruction comes with a 14-18-month timetable. “So it really hasn’t changed,” Cole continued, which means he could return sometime in May — that would be on the earlier side — or June. “We’re juiced,” Judge said of the anticipated comeback. “Whenever it is he comes back, the boys in the clubhouse are going to be excited.” Aaron Boone, meanwhile, has stressed that the Yankees will not rush the 35-year-old, who battled elbow inflammation in 2024 before losing his entire 2025 campaign to an ulnar collateral ligament tear last spring. When Cole does return, the Yankees will be hoping for the best version of the 2023 Cy Young winner. The team didn’t acquire another frontline starter over the winter despite some others having injury and workload concerns, partly because they are counting on Cole. But while Tommy John surgery has a high success rate, it can come with setbacks, rust and extended struggles. Just ask Braves starter Spencer Strider, who had a rough 2025 following the procedure. With those warnings in mind, Cole has avoided getting ahead of himself. “I’m a confident guy,” he said last week. “I have high expectations for my execution internally, but overall, in terms of performance and expectations, I don’t really have any set goals or numbers or things like that. It’s been working really well to just stay day-to-day and execute the task at hand, so I think the challenge is to continue to do that as things become more exciting and as things start to get rolling more and more.” Judge, however, is confident that Cole’s “best games and best innings are still ahead of him in October this year.” “We’re not the same without him on the field showing up for us every five days,” the captain added. “That’s where I got mad when people were kind of harping on us about running back the same team. “You get back a Cy Young winner like that, it’s not the same team.” ...read more read less