The New York Yankees are scheduled to take on the San Francisco Giants in the first game of the regular season before Opening Day. With the game set to begin at 8:05 p.m. EST, the club announced several moves to finalize the roster, including a decision on Gerrit Cole.
New York officially announced that Cole, along with Carlos Rodon and Anthony Volpe, are all being placed on the IL. Meanwhile, Luis Gil is being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and Randal Grichuk signed a major league contract to begin the 2026 campaign with the Yankees.
“Following Tuesday's game,” said the Yankees PR Dept., “the Yankees made the following roster moves:
•Placed LHP Carlos Rodon on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to 3/22) with left elbow surgery recovery.
•Placed INF Anthony Volpe on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to 3/22) with left shoulder surgery recovery.
•Optioned RHP Luis Gil to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
•Signed OF Randal Grichuk (#34) to a Major League contract and selected him to the active roster.
Prior to tonight's game, the Yankees placed RHP Gerrit Cole on the 15-day injured list with ‘Tommy John' surgery recovery.”
Cole, who is 35 years old, suffered a right elbow injury in 2025 that forced him to miss the entire 2025 season. The six-time All-Star is expected to join the Yankees roster at some point this season. It may be a slow process early in the campaign, as the club will want to ensure Gerrit Cole is fully healthy before he takes the mound.
It was three years ago when Cole took home the Cy Young Award as the Yankees' ace (2023). Hopefully, he can return to that level of dominance again, as that would be huge for his career and the franchise. He enters his 13th season with a career 3.18 ERA and 1.089 WHIP along with 2,251 strikeouts.
