Yankees' Gerrit Cole avoiding elbow surgery

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole will not require surgery on his injured right elbow, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

What It Means:

Cole, who met with a specialist this week, will rest and receive treatment to recover from his elbow injury. The 33-year-old right-hander is expected to miss 1-2 months. Clayton Beeter, Luis Gil, Luke Weaver, Yoendrys Gómez, and Will Warren are candidates to replace Cole in the rotation. Marcus Stroman is now the favorite to start for the Yankees on Opening Day.

Prior to this report, numberFire's models projected Cole to record a 3.88 ERA and 1.16 WHIP this season, with a 27.6 percent strikeout rate and 7.3 percent walk rate.