Boone: Rodón likely to return Sun., Cole to make 2-3 more rehab starts

NEW YORK -- Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón will likely make his season debut Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, whileright-hander Gerrit Cole is slated to make two or three more rehab starts before joining the club, manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday.

Rodón and Cole both made rehab starts Tuesday and emerged healthy.

Rodón, who underwent elbow surgery in October, allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits and threw 85 pitches across 6 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Worcester. A few hours away, the Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers for their 15th win in 17 games before optioning Elmer Rodríguez, the game's starting pitcher, to Triple-A to create the vacancy for the three-time All-Star Rodón to fill.

"I think he's felt ready the last couple of times," Boone said. "But to get him up over 80 pitches this time out, we wanted to do and get him a third game. So, we feel like he's ready to go. Feel like he's been throwing the ball well. He's starting to command his stuff well. I feel like he's ready."

Cole gave up five runs on seven hits and threw 69 pitches over 4 innings for Single-A Hudson Valley. It was the most pitches he has thrown in any of his four rehab outings.

"He's filling up the strike zone, popping some 98, 99s," Boone said. "I think there was a lot of good yesterday. He got whacked a couple of times, which is not a bad thing. He's working on different things each time out. I really like where he's at."

Cole, 35, last pitched for the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series. The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2025 after nearly needing the procedure the previous year.

He and Rodón are slated to join what is arguably already the best starting pitching in the majors; New York entered Wednesday with a 2.77 starter ERA, the lowest in baseball. Barring injury to a member of the rotation, Cole's return will likely push Ryan Weathers, one of the better starters in the majors this season, to the bullpen. Weathers, acquired from the Miami Marlins over the offseason, has a 3.03 ERA in seven starts.