Friday, May 22
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler. Since this is Memorial Day Weekend, we’ll be back on Tuesday.
It’s been 569 days since Gerrit Cole last pitched in a Major League game.
Well, today’s the day. The Yankees ace and 2023 AL Cy Young winner is finally returning to the mound.
Cole will make his long-awaited 2026 season debut as the Bronx Bombers host the MLB-best Rays in a rivalry showdown at Yankee Stadium (7:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV).
Cole’s last game was on Oct. 30, 2024 — that was the deciding Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, when the Dodgers rallied to defeat the Yankees and win the first of their back-to-back championships the last two years.
Cole missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2025. But now, after a year-plus of recovery, every box has been checked. The Cole Train is back in the big leagues.
We have five things to watch in Cole’s return to the Yankees, courtesy of MLB.com’s Jason Catania. Let’s focus on three of them here:
1) Can he bring the heat?
Cole touched 99.6 mph in his final rehab start at Triple-A. Maybe the No. 1 thing we’ll be watching is: Can the 35-year-old bring his old heat tonight?
2) Will he have his elite command?
Cole is a six-time All-Star who knows how to put a baseball where he wants it. He doesn’t just have overpowering stuff, he also has great command. But after Tommy John surgery, command is often the last thing to come back for a pitcher.
3) How will his new windup look?
Cole has been experimenting with a new, hands-over-the-head windup in his rehab process — a windup in the style of Max Scherzer. We want to see that new windup in action. And will it affect Cole’s stuff? His command? Both? Neither?
Whatever the results tonight, though, we’re just happy to see one of baseball’s true aces for the first time in a year and a half.
GAMES TO WATCH ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Baseball’s longest scoreless streak, a bounceback spot for Skenes and some division rivalry series highlight the games to watch this Memorial Day Weekend. See how MLB is commemorating Memorial Day here.
Today: Guardians at Phillies (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez has a 29 2/3-inning scoreless streak going, the longest in the Majors — and it’s his bobblehead night at Citizens Bank Park. But he’s facing a first-place Guardians team that has its own ace going, Gavin Williams.
Tomorrow: Pirates at Blue Jays (3:07 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Paul Skenes had one of his roughest outings of the season his last time out, allowing five runs in a loss to the Phillies. He’ll look to bounce back this weekend against a Blue Jays team that’s been scuffling, but still has a dangerous lineup.
Sunday: Rays at Yankees (1:35 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The two best teams in the AL this season both happen to play in the AL East, and they’re clashing this weekend. This contest should be a particularly good one with resurgent Rays ace Shane McClanahan (2.82 ERA) on the mound.
Monday: Cardinals at Brewers (2:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The now-first-place Brewers open a big NL Central series against the Cards, who are just a couple of games back, on Memorial Day. And the series opener tentatively lines up to be Jacob Misiorowski’s start for the Brew Crew. The Miz hasn’t allowed a run in four starts in May, and he leads the Majors with 88 strikeouts this season.
DÉJÀ VU FOR HARRIS II
It was the home run so nice Michael Harris II hit it twice.
Harris had Braves fans feeling déjà vu this week in Miami when he hit a pair of eerily similar home runs on Tuesday and Thursday.
Not only did Harris hit the home runs to the same patch of grass beyond the right-center-field wall at loanDepot Park, but almost everything about the home runs was nearly identical.
Check this out:
- HR #1: 110.1 mph / 19 degrees / 421 feet / 4.3 seconds hang time
- HR #2: 110.5 mph / 18 degrees / 418 feet / 4.4 seconds hang time
Even Harris’ swing speeds were identical: 78.7 mph.
It’s like looking in a dinger mirror.
WHO NEEDS HOME RUNS? NOT THE BREW CREW
The Brewers have taken over first place in the NL Central thanks to a sweep of the rival Cubsearlier this week. And — surprise, surprise — they’re getting it done in the most Brewers way possible.
The Brew Crew continue to be the kings of small ball. And this weekend’s series against the Dodgers — who eliminated Milwaukee from the playoffs last year in the NLCS — will be a big contrast in styles between two contenders.
Entering tonight’s series opener in Milwaukee (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV), the Brewers are a top-five offense in baseball. But they’re not like the others. Because they score without hitting home runs.
The Brewers rank fourth in the Majors this season at 5.04 runs per game. They rank dead last in the Majors with 33 home runs. No AL/NL team has ranked in the top five in runs scored while hitting the fewest home runs in the Majors since the 1930s.
Now consider the Dodgers. Los Angeles ranks just ahead of the Brewers in scoring offense at 5.14 runs per game. But the Dodgers rank fourth in MLB with 66 homers — twice as many as the Brewers.
And yet both teams are in first place in their respective divisions. Both teams have nearly identical records. There’s more than one way to win a baseball game.
BEST NICKNAME IN THE MINORS? VOTE NOW
The Minor Leagues are full of players with incredible nicknames.
There’s “Tugboat” … “The Grinch” … “The Ice Cream Man” … “The Username” … “Lord Tubbington” … “The Iowa Meat Truck” … the list goes on and on.
But who has the very best nickname of them all? It’s up to you to decide.
MLB Pipeline is running a “Nickname Knockout” bracket for the Minors, and you can vote now through next Friday, May 29, at noonET.
There are 32 nominees, but only one will be crowned the nickname champion.
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RJ Hamster 