TAMPA — The word of the night for Gerrit Cole: change.
A year after he made just one spring start before his elbow began barking to begin a monthslong saga, Cole’s arm and elbow felt plenty changed.
“I feel way different [than this time last year],” Cole said after his first Grapefruit League outing Friday. “I really like where I’m at. I liked what I saw.”
The Yankees ace physically feels better, and he feels good about his arsenal, too — which now includes a more emphasized and tweaked changeup.
Cole showed off his health and his newest weapon in 3 ¹/₃ innings of a 6-3 win over the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field in which he allowed a run and three hits, hit one batter and struck out five.
The righty was sharp, returned for a batter in the fourth inning because he was so efficient and finished with 46 pitches (including 33 strikes).
His four-seam fastball sat around 95 mph, which is a positive for late February, but his changeup was the most intriguing development.
A pitch Cole barely threw last year — used just 4 percent of the time — was featured 15 times and generated three whiffs on seven Toronto swings.
“Thought it was really good. I’ve been working on it,” Cole said of a pitch that would give him a fifth to throw frequently. “Had a couple opportunities to trust it. I had good movement and good location on really all of them.”
Plenty of pitchers play with different pitches at this time of the year and end up abandoning them by April. It sounds as if Cole’s changeup, though, could figure into the plans of a 34-year-old who is always looking for new ways to get batters out.
“It’s the evolution of a great pitcher,” manager Aaron Boone said.
“I think the more he throws it, the better it’s going to be,” said Cole’s catcher, Austin Wells. “And either way, we’re going to throw it.”
It was an encouraging outing on an otherwise discouraging day for the club, which saw Luis Gil cut short a bullpen session because of what Boone called tightness around his shoulder.
The scare a year ago belonged to Cole, who eventually was diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema that pushed his season debut to mid-June.
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This spring training has begun smoother.
“Getting the fourth up was nice, getting to the pitch count was nice,” Cole said. “Settling in right where we wanted to. So I feel fortunate in that regard.A lot of good things.”
Boone had no further update on Giancarlo Stanton, who remained away from the team for a fifth straight day to tend to a personal matter.
Cody Bellinger blasted his first homer of the exhibition season and added a double.
“He’s come in here and feels very at ease,” Boone said. “Just stacking good days of work.”
Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu are expected to make their Grapefruit League debuts Saturday at home against the Astros.
LeMahieu will DH.
Max Fried is set to make his spring debut on Monday in Tampa against the Pirates.
Clarke Schmidt, who had been slowed by back discomfort, is scheduled to throw batting practice on Saturday.
Ian Hamilton has been away from the team for a few days with an infection.
Boone said Hamilton underwent some testing for an issue that is not believed to be serious.
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
