Top pitching prospect Will Warren is making a strong case to fill in for ace Gerrit Cole, but the Yankees have other options.

That was because Gerrit Cole, the club’s ace pitcher, appeared destined for season-ending surgery. In baseball, elbow discomfort like the kind Cole complained of over the weekend is so often followed by Tommy John surgery. And when it was revealed that Cole had left Florida and journeyed to California for a second opinion, bad news felt inevitable.