Gerrit Cole is scheduled to return from Tommy John surgery Friday night and make his season debut for the New York Yankees against Tampa Bay. Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced the plan Tuesday before his team’s game against Toronto. Cole, a six-time All-Star and the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since October 2024 in Game 5 of the World Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees had planned for Cole to make one more minor league rehab start. But after the 35-year-old right-hander threw 86 pitches over 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night, Cole and the Yankees changed course.