(Photo credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)

The New York Yankees will start right-hander Gerrit Cole on Friday at home in an American League East battle against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, Cole's first major league start since Tommy John surgery 14 months ago.

The former Cy Young Award winner missed the 2025 season after he experienced elbow discomfort during a spring training start and doctors recommended the surgery. Cole's last appearance excluding spring training was Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, which the Los Angeles Dodgers won to take the series 4-1 over the Yankees.

Cole, 35, made six rehab starts across three levels this spring and pitched to a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings. On Monday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated that the team hadn't decided whether Cole would return this week or make one last rehab start.

However, New York's decision to option pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre left the door open for Cole to return the next time through the rotation.

The Yankees have fallen three games behind the Rays in the division race and recently put star left-hander Max Fried on the 15-day IL with a left elbow bone bruise. That prompted Rodriguez's second call-up of the season.

Cole, a six-time All-Star, was the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner for New York after going 15-4 with a league-leading 2.63 ERA in 33 starts.

The following year, he went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts, missing the first half of the season due to elbow soreness. Cole also starred in the Yankees' 2024 postseason run, going 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five starts.

In 317 career major league starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2013-17), Houston Astros (2018-19) and New York (2020-24), Cole has a 153-80 regular-season record with a 3.18 ERA. In 22 postseason starts, he is 11-6 with a 2.77 ERA.

--Field Level Media