Gerrit Cole was asked on the first day of spring training if he wаnted to win his first Cy Young award this year.

The Yankees ace swiftly shifted the conversation to how winning a championship was his number one priority.

In a terrible twist, six months later, Cole is about to finish a Cy Young season without the team success that would make it even more important.

It’s still my job whether we’re winning or losing,” Cole remarked this week. “Honestly, I think it would be more so if we were winning.”

The Yankees are in dаnger of squandering Cole’s best season, which he is now having.

The Yankees went below.500 for the first time since 2021 on Wednesday, in part because to the struggles of the team’s rotation, which had high hopes coming out of spring training.

Personal feelings for the injured players “make you sad,” Cole added. You should go out there and give it your best shot. So, you sympathize with them on a deeply intimate level. No one on the squad will feel bad for you. So, you know, you just have to take advantage of the situation.Cole, who has been dependable every five days and has a 2.76 ERA (through 25 starts and 156 1/3 innings), will make his next start on Saturday against the Red Sox. The Yankees are paying him $324 million.

Former All-Stars Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, Nestor Cortes, and Frankie Montas were intended to bolster the rest of the rotation.

As a group, they have a 6.66 ERA in 158 innings pitched in 32 starts due to injuries and poor performance.During spring training, I was asked numerous times how the rotation will look come September. In Cole’s words, “It’s in writing. The outcome of a baseball game is always a complete mystеry. You never seem to reach either extreme.

It’s still going on. The starting lineup wasn’t the best in spring training history. You need to settle for a compromise.

Due tо his early prоblems, Clarke Schmidt may nоt have gоtten much оf a chance in the rоtatiоn if nоt fоr the injuries.

Cole, who has mentored Schmidt, is happy that the young right-hander was given the opportunity to learn from his mistakes in the major leagues.For future success, “John Smoltz says all the time, we’re just not allowing our guys to fail at this level,” Cole said. You can think of it like ripping away a string. Due to the nature of the injuries, the cord could not have been ripped. Thank goodness for that, for sure. Suρer appreciative. Yes, things could have turned out differently under different circumstances. Because you know how these things work.

As Rodon prepares to rejoin to the rotation next week, rookies Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez (who was optioned to Triple-A on Thursday) are being given their own opportunities to prove themselves.

Like he did in Severino’s start on Tuesday, Cole has been paying close attention to their outings, even taking time between innings to review pitches with him on an iPad.The Yankees’ rotation is not performing as expected in mid-August, despite Cole’s domination. The coaching staff, though, has been very impressed by Cole’s response.

“Obviously it’s frustrating for guys like him and [Aaron] Judge who are at the front of this team and not necessarily getting the support you’d hope for to be in a better playoff position,” said pitching coach Matt Blake. But in my opinion, he is the ultimate professional. Every night he comes here to help the other guys figure out their problems. He consistently puts in a full day of work. A genuine professional, he is consistently one of the best-prepared players in the game.