They were never the Run-It-Back Yankees.

The return of Gerrit Cole always loomed to differentiate the 2026 Yankees from the 2025 version, and so did the one significant outside — and potential upside — move made in the offseason, the acquisition of Ryan Weathers.

Access the Yankees beat like never before

Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

Because if it worked out, the Yankees could form a deep, dynamic rotation capable of elevating them during the regular season and giving them an avenue to win in the postseason. How Cole has come back after Tommy John surgery — 12 ²/₃ shutout innings in two starts — only accentuates the possibilities.

Obviously it is a long way from here to October. One day you are talking about Max Fried as a Cy Young contender and the next he has an elbow issue with a murky forecast for his re-entry. Yet, even without Fried, Luis Gil (shoulder) sidelined and Clarke Schmidt still rehabbing from his Tommy John procedure, the quantity and quality of the Yankee rotation is their strength. Is their best possible way — arguably better than the trade market — to improve their bullpen. Is their greatest asset to end a title drought dating to 2009.