Yankees replacements stepping up kept injuries from sinking season again like 2023

In the moment, it felt like an omen — and it turned out to be.Just not as expected.When the Yankees announced in spring training that Gerrit Cole had elbow discomfort, the concern was palpable.

The rest of the rotation was worrisome and seemingly thin.So, it felt as if Cole was the Yankees’ most indispensable player — even more than Aaron Judge or Juan Soto.When Cole flew cross-country to see Dr.

Neal ElAttrache, he was fearing the worst — structural damage, Tommy John surgery, his complete absence for the 2024 season.But the diagnosis was favorable, nerve irritation that would need medicine, rehab and a few months missed.What followed is central to why the Yankees are returning to the playoffs, are probable to win the AL East and perhaps post the league’s best record.In 2024, the Yankees were not devastated by injury.

Quite the opposite.The Cole injury was not a bellwether.

And when there was injury, what emerged often was not a bandage, but a solution.And though most playoff-bound clubs are dealing with worsening injury situations as October nears, the returns this month of Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Ian Hamilton and Jon Berti have made the Yankees healthier and deeper than at any point this year.Now huge proviso: There is still a week to play, and you see how quickly a club can go from healthy to not — Thursday, for example, Soto banged his knee running into a wall in Seattle, and Jake Cousins left the game with pec tightness.Neither was initially viewed as serious.So keep in mind that one errant fastball to a wrist or a misstep on the bases could flip a healthy script.But as the final regular-season week began, the Yankees had six starting pitchers and were trying to deduce which three will align behind Cole in October.

Meanwhile, two healthy pitchers, Cody Poteet and Lou Trivino, were being slow-played at the end of their injury rehab to provide just-in-case depth.And the one Yankees IL move made in September — DJ LeMahieu (hip) — actually ...