Gerrit Cole is having a hard time getting back to the major leagues. On Tuesday, the Yankees ace pitched in a rehab game against the Winston-Salem Dash. He ended up hitting a 20-year-old prospect with a fastball, causing a huge uproar on the internet. In the very first inning, White Sox prospect Caleb Bonemer crushed a solo home run off Cole and celebrated.

Later in the game, Cole faced Bonemer again. This time, Cole threw a 97-mph fastball right into the young hitter’s back. Fans were quick to accuse Cole of trying to get revenge.

“Garret Cole is such a loser… Hitting a 20-year-old in High A because he got barreled,” wrote angry White Sox fan, Will Sommers.

But was it really the case? Probably not

When pitchers want to get back at hitters, as Framber Valdez did with hitting Trevor Story earlier this week, it is somewhat obvious. Gerrit Cole’s situation, however, is completely different. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery. After a massive time away from the game, pitchers frequently lose control of their fastballs.

Cole’s outing showed that he was still clearly rusty. He allowed five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings. He threw 69 pitches, and 49 were strikes. But across his rehab starts, Cole has allowed 12 runs in 18.2 innings, showing that he might not be fully fit yet and may take some more time.

The Yankees are trying to work on Cole’s velocity and pitch mix while keeping control in mind. The 49 strikes he threw show that Gerrit Cole tries to get as many pitches as he can in the zone, and he is least concerned about getting hit hard. This alone weakens the speculation that a single homer triggered an emotional reaction from a major league pitcher.

And if that wasn’t enough, Cole’s in-game behavior is also a contrast to this complaint. Earlier in the same game, he paused play to check on his catcher, who was hit by a foul tip. That moment shows Cole’s awareness and concern, not anger on the mound.

But it looks like the White Sox fans have made up their mind.

White Sox fans are not happy with Gerrit Cole

Just a few hours after the Gerrit Cole and Caleb Bonemer incident, the Chicago White Sox fans took to the internet and did not let go of the Yankees pitcher.

“If you can’t handle it in A ball, you can’t handle it when promoted,” ignores that Gerrit Cole is in structured rehab mode, not competition mode. We could see that each one of his outings, over 50 pitches, and most of them have been strikes. And that is exactly why we are seeing him get hit so many times (18 hits). So the thinking that Cole tried to injure someone on purpose seems a bit of an exaggeration. And there is nothing to back that up.

“You are in the minors for a reason. There’s no point to throw at people intentionally,” and the fan is exactly right with the first half of his comment. The whole point of a rehab game is to throw strikes and build up a pitch count. The actual results don’t matter at all. When you haven’t pitched in a long time, your breaking pitches are going to be a little wild.

Cole is throwing strikes on nearly 80% of his pitches right now. He’s just attacking the strike zone and hoping for the best, no matter how hard the minor leaguers hit him. Hitting Bonemer was likely an accident, not done on purpose.

“Dude needs to learn fundamentals. Cover first base for Rizzo. I don’t want him back,” shows how this Yankees fan is still venting about Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. In that fifth inning, where everything went wrong for the New York Yankees, Cole failed to cover first on a grounder that went to Rizzo.

That mistake let the Dodgers score five runs that inning and win the World Series. Fans are still mad about it, but they need to remember that rehab games are just practice.

“He looks beyond fat, my god,” reflects visual judgment, but Cole’s rehab numbers tell a different story. Across early rehab outings, Cole threw 78 of 96 pitches for strikes, showing strong command.

That is an 81.3% strike rate, which directly contradicts claims of poor conditioning. His pitch count has steadily increased from 44 to 60 pitches, and this shows that he is getting to the major league level slowly. And with the Yankees more focused on his metrics than on him getting hit, the notion of him hitting batters on purpose might be illogical.

“What a crybaby loser Cole is,” ignores everything about what rehab games mean. Gerrit Cole underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2025 and missed the full season. In his first rehab start, he threw 44 pitches with 36 strikes. In his 2nd outing, he threw 42 strikes but took five hits.

Everyone will eventually forget the HPB. However, the real problem here is that Cole got crushed by minor league hitters. Giving up five runs and seven hits in four innings and having allowed 12 runs in 18 innings across his rehab assignment is a worrying sign.

The Yankees need Cole at his best when he returns, and they would be hoping he finds his best soon.

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