New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is off to a bad start in 2022.
Before even recording an out, he surrendered three runs to the Yankees fiercest rival, the Boston Red Sox and put the Yankees in an early hole.
This is not a good sign for the Yankees to start the season, as their ace that they signed for nine years and $324 million doesn’t appear to be on track in his first start of 2022.
According to Bryan Hoch, the Yankees MLB.com beat reporter, Cole was hearing it from the Yankee crowd as the team fell into an early 3-0 hole before he could even record an out.
Gerrit Cole hearing boos here in the Bronx as the Red Sox lead, 3-0.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 8, 2022
A Rough Way To Start
Fortunately for Cole, Anthony Rizzo helped chip into that deficit with a two-run homer.
But this is not how you want to start if you’re Cole, hearing boos from the home fans on Opening Day in just the first inning.
Of course, every little thing is scrutinized if you’re playing for the Yankees or in New York at all, but Cole has already made the Yankees faithful upset with his first-inning struggles.
The 31-year-old right-hander went 16-8 in 2021 with a 3.23 ERA in 30 starts.
It is of course only the first game of the season.
He’ll definitely be poised to have a better start the next time he is out on the mound, as it can’t be fun hearing boos from the home crowd.
His track record speaks for itself though, and he should be just fine in 2022 once he shakes off the rust.
But this certainly was not the way he wanted to start his season.
NEXT: Anthony Rizzo Starts The Yankees Season With A Huge Home Run