(Photo credit: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Former Cy Young Award-winner Gerrit Cole has been activated from the injured list and will return from an absence of more than a year following elbow surgery to start for New York on Friday when the Yankees host the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in an American League East matchup.

Cole spent the past 14 months rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, including the past two months of gradually building up his arm and getting into minor league rehab games in anticipation of his return to the Yankees.

'It's been tough. I mean, I've missed it quite a bit,' Cole said earlier this week. 'There's been some blessings along the way as well. I talked about my family and spending time with my boys. But largely I'm just looking forward to being really tired and having that exhaustion, like, mean something.'

Cole, 35, will take a major league mound for the first time since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The following spring, Cole had reconstructive elbow surgery five days after allowing two homers in a spring training start against the Minnesota Twins.

Cole made a pair of outings for the Yankees during spring training this year, and he began his rehab assignment on April 17. In six minor league outings for three New York farm teams, Cole posted a 4.66 ERA and allowed 28 hits in 29 innings while striking out 28 and walking three.

'We're thrilled to get him back,' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday. 'I think that goes without saying. It's been a long road and I feel like he's crushed the rehab process. I feel like the ramp up's been really good. We've been diligent, haven't skipped things and haven't rushed things.

'As a result, I think he's in position to come here and perform at a high level. That being said, it's been a long time and so I'm sure there'll be some things he's got to iron out at this level, too.'

Utility man Jose Caballero was also reinstated after a stint on the 10-day injured list with a fractured finger.

Caballero hurt his right middle finger on May 10 when he dove back to first base to avoid a pickoff during a 4-3 road loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

In Caballero's absence, the Yankees called up shortstop Anthony Volpe, who made his 2026 MLB debut after starting the season rehabbing from shoulder surgery last October before being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 3.

Before his injury, Caballero was batting .259 with four home runs, 13 RBIs and 13 stolen bases through 41 games, including 39 starts at shortstop. The Yankees acquired him at the 2025 trade deadline from the rival Tampa Bay Rays and used him around both the outfield and infield, but he had earned the everyday shortstop job to begin this season.

Immediately following Caballero's injury, Boone indicated the 29-year-old would retain his starting shortstop position, but the Yankees manager was non-committal throughout the past week about how Volpe would be used when Caballero was ready to return to the majors.

'We'll see. We haven't had that conversation yet. The biggest thing is he's come up and played his butt off,' Boone said of Volpe during an appearance on 'Talkin' Yanks' on Tuesday. 'The one thing that's encouraging is how Anthony's played in not ideal circumstances. He's come up and performed at a really high level.'

With Spencer Jones optioned to Triple-A Thursday, Volpe remains on the roster, though his role moving forward is unclear as Caballero is in the starting lineup at shortstop Friday night.

Volpe, 25, played through a partial labrum tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder last season before the October surgery. Both his batting average and his fielding dipped in 2025 while he was hurt, a slide from when he posted a 21-home run, Gold Glove rookie season in 2023 in 159 games and batted .243 with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs in 160 games in 2024.

In 480 career games, Volpe has batted .222 with 52 homers, 192 RBIs, 84 doubles and 72 stolen bases. He also tied for the American League lead with 19 errors last year.

--Field Level Media