It isn’t only what Gerrit Cole does on the mound for his Yankees teammates. He is their Cy Young when he isn’t pitching, too.
“I think he’s an incredible human being,” Marcus Stroman told The Post. “He’s someone who’s extremely unselfish, someone who’s just trying to help, and be a light to anybody around him, someone who will take the time out of his day to completely try and better a teammate in any scenario. Through this injury he’s been around talking to us in between innings, going over things with us after game, pregame, just giving us his knowledge and tidbits. He’s so dialed in when it comes to baseball analytically and mechanically, so when he talks he’s the type of dude you listen.
“So just having him around just gives you confidence, especially when he’s telling you certain things about your game, it only makes you more motivated when you go out there. I’ve been a fan of his from afar, and to be up close and personal, it’s been something to admire.”
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Cole, returning from spring training elbow inflammation, will make his season debut on a sweltering Wednesday night against the Orioles under Aaron Boone’s watchful eyes.
“He obviously brings a lot on the field but he brings a lot off the field,” Clay Holmes told The Post. “He was able to kinda pour into his teammates, things that he’s always done, just maybe had a couple of more seconds to do it I guess. He’s in every pitch. It almost feels like the way he talks to you, your outing after a game, that he was almost like there with you throwing it. That’s just how engaged he is.
“This whole little couple of months just reinforced the things I think a lot of us knew about him already.”
Former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo was to play behind Cole for the first time.
“He really cares not only about the way he gets ready, but about all the pitching staff, all the guys he’s always kind of watching and just giving his opinions and views, and I feel like usually they’re right,” Verdugo said.
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Aaron Judge is the captain, and deservedly so. Cole has similar leadership qualities.
“Just a really great guy, one that’s constantly wanting to share feedback and wisdom and how to get better, not afraid to ask stuff to make himself better from teammates, and just always striving to be great,” Luke Weaver told The Post, “and I think that is infectious, and I think he’s definitely a vocal leader and he’s also a leader by example.”
His teammates were thrilled for Cole winning the 2023 Cy Young.
“There’s not a stone he really leaves unturned,” Holmes said. “You see somebody that that’s talented that puts that much energy into it. … I mean, you just root for him, especially when he has as much potential as he does. He has more than enough capabilities to win a Cy Young. You want that to come true for him. It was definitely a cool moment just to see all that come to fruition and see him get rewarded for it.”
The Yanks entered the night 16-2 in Cole’s Stadium starts.
“He’s one of those guys that every time he starts it’s must-see TV,” Verdugo said. “Everything he throws he has a good understanding of what he’s trying to do and what kind of pitch characteristics he wants.”
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Austin Wells caught Cole in spring training and raved about his fastball.
“The way that it moves and the way it comes out of his hand and the way he’s able to command it, it just makes everything else that much better, too,” Wells told The Post.
Getting their ace back wasn’t only an emotional boost to the Yankees. Stroman knows what it would mean to the opposing pitcher, starting on Wednesday night with Baltimore’s Cade Povich.
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“He’s an ace, he’s a Cy, so I feel like anytime you’re going against him you know that you’re gonna have to be at your best in order to go out there and put your team in a position to win because I feel like he’s someone who’s pretty much always at his best,” Stroman said. “There’s a reason he’s been doing it for so long at such a high level. I never take that for granted, especially someone who’s been in a while. I admire the guys like Gerrit Cole, like Zack Wheeler, like Aaron Nola, guys who go out there and give you 200 innings each and every year … Logan Webb. I just think those guys are the most valuable for their teams. And like I said, Gerrit, he’s so dialed in when it comes to analytics, he’s like essentially having another coach around.
“So very thankful for his presence.”
