Gerrit Cole tossed from the bullpen mound on Friday afternoon before the Yankees’ game with the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium and said he expects to return to the rotation on Sunday against Toronto.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner was scratched from a scheduled start on Tuesday in Philadelphia with what the club described as “general body fatigue.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone also said that Cole had been dealing with a stomach virus.
Asked what he needed to feel in order to return to the mound, Cole told reporters: “Better.”
Cole has said that he had difficulty bouncing back physically from his previous start against the Mets on July 24, when he was hammered for six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, including three homers.
“I feel very fatigued,” Cole said on Tuesday. “I’m grinding a little bit.
