Gerrit Cole and Rogers Clemens have both earned four Opening Day starts for the New York Yankees. Now, Clemens is back in Tampa to help out at Yankees’ camp and he had some tips for his former team’s current ace.
Cole, a six-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, is coming off a tough, injury-affected year in which he made only 17 starts and battled inconsistency for much of the regular season. Now healthy and just a full season removed from a dominant 2023 campaign, Cole was all ears for the all-time great pitcher who won two World Series rings in the Bronx.
“He had some advice after the ‘pen the other day, just on some of the mechanics, some of the fine-tuning,” Cole said, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “So far, he really liked the foundation. It’s got to get better, but I’m in a good spot.”
The Yankees’ manager, a newly extended Aaron Boone, liked what he saw from his likely Opening Day starter, telling reporters his fastball sat between 94 and 96 miles per hour.
“He really held his stuff throughout, which I think he wanted to do, without having to reach for it,” he said. “The secondary [pitches were] sharp, he got the three ups, got 45 pitches in. So another good day for him.”
Yankees captain Aaron Judge takes Gerrit Cole deep
Rarely do you see two possible future Hall of Famers going head-to-head on a back field with no spectators, but that’s what spring training is for. Yankees captain and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge took some cuts against Cole as both were getting some work in.
Gerrit Cole vs. Aaron Judge in live BP at Yankees camp: pic.twitter.com/gFpYqQvEhm
— Bryan Hoch
(@BryanHoch) February 23, 2025
As a smattering of fans got to see, Judge got the better of the matchup, depositing a home run over the left field fence. His teammate on the mound came away impressed.
“I just thought he looked really good today,” Cole said. “He wasn’t really doing anything other than swinging, trying to get as many swings as he could. I thought he was in a good position to hit a few pitches pretty well. And that’s a good place to be, a good place to start — just sitting there reacting and knowing that I’m going to throw strikes. He looked hitter-ish.”
As for Cole, he enjoyed the opportunity to face one of the best hitters in the game in February.
“I enjoy it,” Cole said. “I’ve done this for a long time; I’ve seen my fair share of line drives and gotten my fair share of line drives. There’s always that uncertainty with guys who can just really hit the ball so hard, so that’s not comfortable. But it’s fun to compete against him, and then to be able to talk about it afterwards — that’s special.”
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