Cole, LeMahieu join Yanks at Trop to continue rehab

ST. PETERSBURG -- A pair of Yankees stars -- reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole and infielder DJ LeMahieu -- made the trip to Tropicana Field on Friday as they continued to work their way back from injury.

Cole, who has yet to pitch in the regular season after experiencing nerve pain in his throwing elbow during Spring Training, threw long toss prior to the team’s game against Tampa Bay and is expected to throw a full bullpen session on Saturday morning.

Manager Aaron Boone said the plan was to have both players ramp up their baseball activities -- biokinetic feedback for Cole, live at-bats for LeMahieu -- at the team’s training complex across the bay in Tampa. Depending on the results, Cole might rejoin the team when it travels to Minnesota on Tuesday, although an exact timetable for his return to the mound has not been set.

LeMahieu is expected to spend the next week in Tampa to work on defense and overall conditioning. LeMahieu has not appeared in a regular-season game for the Yankees after being diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right foot after taking a foul ball off his big toe on March 16. He was originally cleared to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on April 18, but he left the game after just one inning.

Even though Cole hasn’t been able to take the mound this season, he is still trying to make a positive impact on the pitching staff, including acting as a mentor for Luis Gil, who took his place in the rotation. In 39 games this season, Yankees starters have a 3.46 ERA, the fourth lowest in the AL.

“I think it's one of the valuable parts of Gerrit, that we all get to benefit from his knowledge and expertise and his ability to teach,” Boone said.