The New York Yankees announced their decision to hand Gerrit Cole the ball in Game 1 of a doubleheader Wednesday, and the opponent waiting for him at Yankee Stadium is the franchise that made him a first overall pick 15 years ago.
Tuesday night’s game between the Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed roughly five hours before first pitch because of a forecast of sustained rain, pushing the series into a split-admission doubleheader Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. Cole’s turn in the rotation was already lined up for Wednesday’s game before the postponement hit, so the rainout didn’t change his assignment. It did, however, stack Max Fried’s return from injury for his first appearance since May 13 on the same day.
Game 1, now slated for 1:05 p.m. ET, moved up from its original 1:35 p.m. slot, pits Cole against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the club that selected Cole first overall in 2011. Tuesday’s postponed game becomes Game 2 at 7:05 p.m., with the left-hander Fried activated off the injured list to start it.
Gerrit Cole’s Long Road Back to Form
Cole hasn’t pitched like the 2023 American League Cy Young winner since Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2025 season. He returned in late May and enters Wednesday at 3-5 with a 3.93 ERA across 10 starts, striking out 55 batters in 55 innings.
The 35-year-old righty struck out 10 Kansas City Royals hitters in a dominant late-May outing and later worked five innings in a rain-delayed win over the Minnesota Twins. Command lapses have crept in too, with eight home runs allowed already, a number Cole and the Yankees are watching closely as the calendar turns toward the home stretch of the season.
“The last three or four innings, I thought he really got aggressive,” manager Aaron Boone said after a recent Cole outing, as quoted by MLB.com beat reporter Bill Ladson. “I thought he finished really well, but obviously he made some mistakes early.”
Catcher Austin Wells framed it as a pitcher rediscovering his edge rather than chasing perfection, according to the same account.
Pirates Connection Adds Layer to Wednesday’s Start
Cole’s history with Pittsburgh runs deeper than the draft slot. He turned down the Yankees as a 2008 first-round pick to attend UCLA instead, then signed with the Pirates for a then-record bonus three years later after going first overall. Cole debuted in Pittsburgh in 2013, helped end a two-decade losing skid and finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting in 2015 before the Pirates traded him to the Houston Astros in January 2018 for a four-player package built around Joe Musgrove and Colin Moran.
The Pirates arrive at 52-49, fourth in the National League Central, and are expected to counter with right-hander Mitch Keller.
The left-hander Fried has been out since mid-May with a left elbow bone bruise, and the Yankees are betting his rehab starts and simulated games translate immediately against a Pittsburgh lineup that, while beatable, has shown fight against shaky pitching all season. Signed as a marquee free-agent addition, Fried gives New York a proven multiple-time All-Star to pair with Cole once both are fully built back up.
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