The New York Yankees are on the cusp of a historic humiliation at the 2024 World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers have dominated them for all their three games so far, and look set for a clean sweep. With such drastic stakes on the line at Game 4, Yankee legend and former World Series winner Alex Rodriguez thinks it’s time for the ball club to take drastic measures. Speaking to Derek Jeter and the crew of ‘MLB on FOX’, ‘A-Rod’ suggested that Yankees’ ace pitcher, Gerrit Cole, start Game 4 despite not having rested for the standard five days.

If that is, the pitcher is healthy. “Assuming that Gerrit Cole is healthy… you have to go with Gerrit Cole tomorrow. Because your season’s on the line, they have a bullpen game and you have to extend. It would be a bloodbath if your ace… you end up losing the series because you don’t use him again… The one good news… of him throwing only 88 pitches and he’s strong as a bull, pitch him on three day rest tomorrow,” Rodriguez pleaded.

But while his co-host and former teammate, Jeter agreed with Rodriguez, just doesn’t think Cole will be allowed to start. The five-time World Series winner pointed out that if the Yankees were indeed mulling getting their ace pitcher to start on three days’ rest, they would already have heard about it. “Sounds great, ain’t gonna happen. Because I just don’t think, I think if he was gonna throw on three day’s rest… he would start preparing for that… I do think if he was coming back after three days’ rest, we would have already heard about it. I just don’t see it happening myself. I agree with you though, but the game is a little bit different nowadays,” Jeter told ‘A-Rod’.

Proving Jeter’s point about the game being quite different from when they played, ‘A-Rod’ recalled how he had seen his teammates go up to the manager and demand they be put in the next game when the stakes were this high. Rodriguez even felt there was a chance Cole taking the pitch would rally the team and perhaps even help them script a historic comeback.

“Again, let me just preface it by saying, if he’s healthy… I’ve seen Roger Clemens, I’ve seen Lucina, Ive seen any Andy Pettite, Ive seen CC Sabathia, Ive seen AJ say ‘Torre, Girardi, give me the ball tomorrow’. And you would love to see that and if he came out tomorrow, maybe that’s the spark they need. You need a little hero right now and what better hero than your guy?” an impassioned Rodriguez asked. On the other hand, there are totally understandable reasons why Aaron Boone and Co. don’t want Cole to start Game 4.

Yankees’ injury fear to keep Gerrit Cole out of Game 4 despite Alex Rodriguez pleas

Gerrit Cole missed around half of the 2024 season because of his elbow injury. The troubles with his elbow started before the season started as he was diagnosed with elbow inflammation and edema during training. And despite the treatment he received subsequently, he didn’t look the same as in previous seasons when he returned to action in June.

There is a chance that Cole will hurt his elbow if he pitches at Game 4 because of the shortened rest period. Combined with the fact that he hasn’t been as lethal this season, and with the World Series seemingly lost either way, it is easy to see why the Yankees have decided to not have him pitch on the do-or-die game. In fact, MLB journo Bryan Hoch quoted Yankees manager Aaron Boone saying “There is no scenario in which Gerrit Cole starts Game 4 on short rest” because of the injury concerns.

While Alex Rodriguez may think a Cole appearance on Game 4 may lead to a miraculous turnaround, the Yankees clearly don’t share his optimism. What do you think about Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter’s views on letting Gerrit Cole start Game 4? Share in the comments below.