The diagnosis is in, and it seems as if the Yankees have dodged a bullet.  Well, maybe it caught them in the leg.  Gerrit Cole has been examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache and he will officially avoid Tommy John surgery.  At least for now.  According to the New York Post, the plan is for him to miss about two months and use rest and rehab to heal his elbow along with some “conservative, nonsurgical treatment.”

This is the best case scenario, if it works.  Any report that starts with elbow and MRI and doesn’t end with “he will miss the season” is a good report.  I have a hard time being happy about this because every time he takes the mound, every pitch he throws, I am going to be expecting him to blow out his elbow.  From now until he actually gets through the season.  The only thing that gives me hope is that this is basically what happened with Masahiro Tanaka early in his Yankee career, and his elbow held up.  I believe Tanaka’s was actually damaged, whereas the reports are Cole’s is still intact. 

What does this mean for the Yankees season?  It means it is not over.  To me, it also means the Yankees do not have to go outside the organization to find a replacement.  The Yankees have 6 off days in April and May, so that is six times they will not even need a fifth starter.  Rain outs can always add to the off days as well. 

They have more than one option to fill in.  As I mentioned before, Gil, Warren, and Beeter are all options, and there are other guys they could stretch out to be starters over the rest of spring training if they want.  It also doesn’t have to be one guy.  They could use different guys according to match up or the successfulness of the prior guy if they wanted to.  And who knows, maybe one of the kids will show out, and they will have found something.

Now, you can never have enough pitching, so as long as they don’t give up too much or make too big of a commitment, adding pitching is never a bad thing. I just don’t feel they are desperate to add a guy. 

Losing Cole not only hurts for the games he would have started but also hurts the other games as well.  His ability to go deep into games, a real lost art nowadays, really helps the bullpen.  This usually allows Boone to use his bullpen more liberally on the days Cole doesn’t pitch.  Whoever replaces him will most likely only be a 5 inning pitcher.  This will tax the bullpen more and hurt the overall quality of the pitching the Yankees will run out there every day. 

This means the Yankees will have to rely on their hitting more to win them games and keep them in the hunt while Cole is out.  They should be able to do this as their lineup is much improved from the last few years. 

All in all, it could have been a lot worse.  Hopefully, the plan will work, and Cole will have a second half like we are used to, and the Yankees won’t fall too far behind waiting for him to return.