Gerrit Cole to make 2024 debut Wednesday for Yankees, Aaron Boone announces

The team with the best record in Major League Baseball is getting its ace back.

Gerrit Cole will return from the injured list and make his 2024 season debut for the New York Yankees on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, manager Aaron Boone announced Monday. Cole was a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing 2023 Yankees team, winning the 2023 American League Cy Young award after posting a league-best 2.63 ERA.

Cole was expected to be a key part of the Yankees' hopes of bouncing back from a disappointing 82-80 record in 2023, but he went down with elbow nerve inflammation during spring training in March. As he has rehabbed, however, the Yankees' pitching staff has recorded an MLB-best 3.02 ERA as a team entering Monday.

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

Among those who have stepped up is breakout right-hander Luis Gil, who has an AL-best 2.03 ERA and has credited Cole's coaching as a reason for his success.

The Yankees also boast one of the best lineups in baseball, with captain Aaron Judge joined by star offseason acquisition Juan Soto. New York is the only team to have reached 50 wins thus far this season, at 50-24 entering Monday. However, the Orioles — who won 100 games and the American League East title last year — are right behind them at 47-24 entering a pivotal three-game series this week at Yankee Stadium.

Cole is in the fifth season of a nine-year, $324 million contract he signed with the Yankees, the team he grew up rooting for in Southern California, before the 2020 season. He has the right to opt out after the season and become a free agent, but if he opts out, the Yankees can void the opt-out by adding a guaranteed $36 million salary for 2029.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]