Gerrit Cole making Yankees game return in ‘next step’ after Tommy John surgery

TAMPA — Gerrit Cole is scheduled to make his first start in a game since Tommy John surgery on Wednesday against the Red Sox, The Post has learned.

It will be exactly 53 weeks since the March 11, 2025 procedure and exactly one week before Opening Day to the season.

Cole told The Post the one inning he is expecting to throw does not change his timetable of a 14-to-18 month return to a major league regular season mound. But it is indicative of how well his rehab continues to go.

“It just means I can go compete,” Cole said. “It means I have done the work up to this point to go into a situation where things are bit uncontrolled and you have to go perform.”