Major League Baseball

Yankees place Gerrit Cole on 60-day IL as ace deals with elbow inflammation

Updated Mar. 28, 2024 2:59 p.m. ET

The New York Yankees shed some more light on when they expect ace Gerrit Cole to return from his elbow injury, placing the 2023 American League Cy Young winner on the 60-day injured list to start the season.

The move frees up a spot on the Opening Day 40-man roster and solidifies that Cole will not make his 2024 season debut until late May at the earliest. The team announced on March 16 that the right-hander won't throw for three to four weeks due to nerve irritation and edema in his throwing elbow. He is not expected to begin throwing again for at least another week or two.

Cole was expected to be out 10-12 weeks after a mid-March diagnosis of his injury from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who affirmed that the star right-hander will at least initially avoid season-ending Tommy John surgery. Cole, 33, was initially sidelined when he reported his arm felt fatigued after a start early in Spring Training.

New York also placed infielder DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, with a bruised right foot. With LeMahieu out, manager Aaron Boone moved Gleyber Torres to the leadoff spot in the lineup to face Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez. Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes gets the Opening Day start in Cole's place.

The Yankees also placed infielder Oswald Peraza on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, with a right shoulder strain and added infielder Jon Berti to the active roster a day after he was acquired from the Miami Marlins in a trade.

Also placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Monday, were right-handers Tommy Kahnle (right shoulder inflammation) and McKinley Moore (right knee bursitis).

Right-hander Luis Gil was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the Yankees selected the contract of right-hander Nick Burdi from Scranton.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.