NEW YORK – In this accelerated run-up to opening day, Gerrit Cole has one more tune-up before the Yankees’ July 23 meeting with the Washington Nationals.
For now, Cole is due to stay on his fifth day according to manager Aaron Boone.
That would put Cole in another simulated setting on Friday instead of pitching Saturday against the Mets at Citi Field, the first of three Yankees exhibition games.
The current plan is to provide Cole an extra day of rest heading into opening day at Washington, however, “that’s something we’ll also keep a little bit fluid,” Boone said.
“We’ll see how I bounce back in the next 24-48 hours,’’ said Cole, who tossed 84 pitches in Sunday afternoon’s intrasquad game at Yankee Stadium.
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Over 5.2 scoreless innings, Cole gave up four hits – including a double by Mike Tauchman – and one walk, with nine strikeouts.
“I was kind of tired in the sixth (inning),’’ said Cole, pleased at his fastball command. “It was good to push the limits a bit, especially being (a) hot (afternoon). It was a fun challenge.’’
“I thought he was even a little sharper this time out,” said Boone, compared to Cole’s initial intrasquad appearance. “I thought he was really impressive.”
Ordinarily, Cole would continue to push those limits in his next outing, but “I’m going to have those conversations’’ with Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake.
Cole gave up soft singles to Tauchman (check-swing) and Matt Duffy. His outing ended with an infield hit by Miguel Andujar.
Paired again with catcher Gary Sanchez, “I thought we were on the same page a lot today,’’ Cole said. “The few times we weren’t, we discussed it between innings.’’
Cole added praise for Sanchez’s good targets and sharp pitching sequences.
“He knows the other squad better than I do,’’ said Cole, who pitched with Sean Barber calling balls and strikes. It’s the first time the Yanks had MLB umpires during their intrasquad games.
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Judge, Tanaka updates
A day after being scratched from the intrasquad lineup due to a stiff neck, Aaron Judge was still receiving treatment and sat out Sunday’s game.
“We feel like he’s been able to get a lot of work in, a lot of at-bats to this point, so (we) just thought it was better to not push it,’’ said Boone, adding that Judge’s neck was improved “but still pretty stiff.’’
With no intrasquad game scheduled for Monday, Judge might return to playing on Tuesday.
Eight days after being struck in the head by a liner, Masahiro Tanaka played catch again on Sunday, this time extending this throwing to 100 feet.
Tanaka ramped up his cardio work and is expected to continue that trend “as long as everything goes well,’’ said Boone. Tanaka remains in concussion protocol and is not yet scheduled to throw a bullpen.
Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.
Email: caldera@northjersey.com Twitter: @pcaldera