BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The Somerset Patriots, the New York Yankees Double-A affiliate, announced midgame on Sunday, June 2, that MLB pitching ace Gerrit Cole would be making a rehab start with the team on Tuesday, June 4.
Somerset typically announces its rehab assignments with social media posts, not in the middle of an ongoing game as it did for Cole when Somerset hosted the Bowie Baysox on June 2. But the Patriots wanted to capitalize immediately on having the MLB star on the mound.
The team later made a breaking news post on X (formerly Twitter) on June 2 that has generated more than 133,000 views and more than 2,100 likes. Then came the frenzy of interest from fans, who bought up more than 4,000 single-game tickets to sell out the game.
BREAKING NEWS
The @Yankees are currently scheduling an @MLB rehab assignment for reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole in Somerset on Tuesday. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/b5Do6Of0T6— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) June 2, 2024
“We were sold out of tickets [for June 4] within hours,” Marc Russinoff, Somerset’s VP of communications, said over the phone. “Normally you would want to put out as much as you possibly can about [an MLB rehab start] … this pretty much sold itself the minute we mentioned Gerrit Cole was here.”
In his first rehab start, Cole pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five against the Hartford Yard Goats. His appearance in front of 8,260 fans at TD Bank Ballpark set an attendance record in the four years the team has been in the Yankees’ system and far exceeded a stadium sellout. The franchise attendance record is “over 8,500”, according to Russinoff, which was set during Somerset’s time in the Atlantic League.
The ballpark seats 6,100, and more than 2,100 standing-room-only tickets were sold. Somerset’s Tuesday night average is around 4,000 fans for this time of year.
The June 4 game also featured a $1 hot dog promotion which was planned before the team knew Cole was starting that night. Patrick McVerry, Somerset’s president and GM, said they made $9,380 from the promotion and thinks that number would have been around $2,000 had Cole not been in Somerset.
McVerry declined to share a specific total revenue number for last Tuesday but said it was “double” what the team typically does on a Tuesday game.
On Sunday, 7,385 fans showed up for Cole’s second rehab stint, the last of six games against Hartford, greeting him with a large ovation when he was announced in the starting lineup.
Seats were also sold out for Sunday, and fans trying to buy tickets in person on Sunday had to settle for standing room only. Many who arrived before the first pitch congregated around the home bullpen in right field and erupted in cheers when Cole began throwing with catcher J.C. Escarra in right field. Cole finished Sunday striking out four batters in 4.2 innings of work. He allowed two hits and a home run.
“Being this close to him is really cool because you don’t really get this chance at Yankee Stadium,” said Kerri Esteves of Cranford, N.J. who was wearing a No. 45 Cole jersey.
Cole’s agent Scott Boras said recently that the reigning American League Cy Young winner’s return to the Yankees could happen around mid-June if everything goes according to plan.
“Definitely did get stronger as the game went on,’’ Cole told reporters after Sunday’s 4-2 Somerset win. “I thought (my) fastball was not very good early … overall checked a lot of boxes.”
