Aaron Boone never wavered after naming Gerrit Cole Game 1 starter weeks ago: ‘I feel like he’s throwing the ball incredibly well’

This was the idea when they signed him. Gerrit Cole in Game 1 of the playoffs in front of a packed house at Yankee Stadium. It took until his third season in pinstripes, because of COVID among other things. So the right-handed ace was given the “honor” of pitching the first game, but he comes into this first Bronx playoff game with a lot to prove.

“It’s always special, I think, any time somebody gets selected to lead the team into battle,” Cole said. “And I think what comes with that responsibility is preparedness, poise and to be on the attack.”

Cole has pitched four playoff games for the Yankees to a 3.98 ERA. The last memory most Yankees fans have of him in the postseason is sulking off the mound without recording an out in the third inning after getting hit hard by the Red Sox as the Yankees lost last season’s Wild Card Game.

The home run undid Cole in that season-ending game last season. It has also been the thorn in his side this season. He gave up a career-high 33 homers this season.

That does not seem to worry Aaron Boone.

“Yeah, it’s more just making sure we are prepared,” Boone said before a workout Monday at the Stadium. “Making sure he’s prepared as best he can. He’s focused a lot on all the good that he’s done this year, and even down the stretch. Obviously avoiding the long ball has been a bugaboo. But there’s nothing we are doing, like anything physically or prep-wise. We’re leaning into how he’s going to go attack Cleveland, and then it comes down to execution. And if he executes, nobody’s better.”

He broke the Yankees’ single-season strikeout record with 257 and made a career-high tying 33 starts. Cole finished this season with his highest ERA since his final season in Pittsburgh. In fact, there should have been some debate on whether he deserved the “honor” of the Game 1 start over Nestor Cortes Jr., who was the Yankees most reliable starter, or even Luis Severino.

Boone, however, named Cole his Game 1 starter weeks ago and didn’t waver. He argued it was a really good season and said the 20 home runs that broke a tie or lost the Yankees a lead this season were not that big a deal.

“Obviously because it’s Gerrit Cole and because he came here and signed a huge contract, the long term, and the ace of this staff, the New York Yankees staff, nothing will ever be necessarily good enough,” Boone said. “But I think he’s had a very strong year. The home run balls hurt him a little bit to keep it from being, you know, I guess — probably going to keep him from winning the Cy Young and things like that.

“I feel like he’s throwing the ball incredibly well. I feel like he has all year. I feel like his stuff has been really consistent,” Boone continued. “The long ball has been the thing that’s kept it from being a Cy Young season, and there’s no reason to think he can’t go out there and dominate, and again, it comes down to execution. If he goes out and executes, we’ll be in a good spot.”

Cole signed a $324 million, nine-year deal before the 2020 season. He is 8-5 with a 2.93 ERA in his postseason career and he came within a game of winning a World Series title with the Astros.

While saying he has never thought of what his legacy will be, Cole understands that a single-season strikeout record isn’t what is going to endear him to the fans in the Bronx. Only winning in the playoffs will erase the image of him plodding off the mound in Fenway last October.

“I mean, [former Yankees and Astros catcher] Brian McCann said it to me best when he called me after I got traded to Houston. He was one of the first players who gave me a call, and I don’t know if he stole the line from the Hurt Locker, but he said, “You know the postseason is a drug, right?”

“I said, ‘Yeah, it is. It is.’ You just can’t get enough of it.”

BULLPEN UPDATE

Jameson Taillon will be on the ALDS roster, Boone said Monday. The right-handed starter will be out of the bullpen and then become an option to start if the series extends into five games.

“I think he could be a starter later in the postseason. I think he could be anything from a long reliever to close the game,” Boone said. “I mean, I think he’s in play for anything.”

Taillon has never made a professional appearance out of the bullpen. He will be in a similar role as Domingo German, who was spot starting down the stretch and now back in the bullpen.

“I think Jamo early on is going to be in the bullpen for us, too. Domingo — I mean, it takes everyone. It takes everyone during the season and you’re going to have to get some level of contribution from everyone in the postseason if you’re going to reach your goals,” Boone said. “So these guys are all prepared. Everyone that’s on there is ready to go, and looking forward to just taking our shot tomorrow.”

Boone said Wandy Peralta is ready to go and they were still waiting on Clay Holmes to throw on Monday night.

DJ UNDECIDED

While Boone said they were “fairly close,” to finalizing their roster for the ALDS, he still would not say for sure if infielder DJ LeMahieu will be on it. LeMahieu was on the injured list with right big/second toe inflammation in September, but played five of the last six games to try and prove he was ready. Boone was waiting to see him work out on Monday.

“That’s one of the things obviously we’re waiting on. So we’ll kind of make that determination tonight,” Boone said.

LeMahieu said he felt he could contribute after playing in the final game of the season. Boone was concerned he was still being held back by the injury.

“I think it’s getting his swing. I feel like he was still compromised. That’s what I was seeing,” Boone said. “So you know, kind of want to see how he is today and what he’s able to do, and make that determination.”

LeMahieu hit 4-for-16 with no extra-base hits, two walks and a strikeout in those five games.