NEW YORK — His right elbow scarred and his season ruined before it began, Gerrit Cole has not allowed Tommy John surgery to stop him from pitching.

“I still pitch before I go to bed every night,” the Yankees’ sidelined ace said Monday. “I haven’t given up any hits recently.”

Cole, speaking for the first time since he underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction with the assist of a brace in March, simply meant that he’s been pretending to pitch, the way that a child might while bored and itching to set foot on a field. Now 34, Cole has been robbed of what he’s best at, and what he’s always known.

He’s taking his unfamiliar reality in stride as he aims for a return to catch play this August.

“It stunk. It stinks,” Cole said of his initial diagnosis, but he’s found a silver lining in more time spent with his family. He’s been able to take his kids to and from school, attend soccer and Little League games and be more present than baseball players typically can be.

“That’s been really helpful to keep my spirits up, and they’ve certainly enjoyed it,” Cole said. “It’s been an opportunity that I never really thought I would have during the summer or spring at any point.

“So that aspect of it has been nice, but I miss playing. I miss competing, so I’m trying to take the positives from it.”

Cole won’t be competing anytime soon, as he still has a 14-month recovery timeline, even with the brace.

He wants to return “as soon as possible” and hopes to participate in spring training next year. He didn’t completely rule out starting the 2026 season on time, but that would be way ahead of schedule, and he’s not sharing any dates he may or may not have circled on his calendar.

“The objective is to be as efficient as possible,” Cole said. “We don’t want to go too long and you don’t want to go too short. I can’t control a few months from now. All I’m focused on is today.”

Cole is about eight weeks removed from surgery, and he had his brace taken off about 2 1/2 weeks ago. He’s been at Yankee Stadium for physical therapy six days a week, going through sessions that typically last 1 1/2-2 hours.

The 2023 Cy Young said he’s currently transitioning from mobility to strength work. After initially being limited to left-handed driving — “I’m fairly proficient behind the wheel,” he said — and three-plus weeks of his wife cutting his steak for him, Cole can now touch his shoulder, extend his right arm — something he demonstrated repeatedly while talking — and “carry some stuff.”

He’s been building his finger and elbow muscles, but “I haven’t introduced actually loading the ligament yet,” Cole said.

“But we’re prepping all the surrounding tissues for that,” he continued. “And then the next phase will be actual valgus force, so strengthening the new ligament by testing it and putting force and stretching it out.”

Cole no longer has to be as concerned about people bumping into his right arm, and so he plans on being around the Yankees more and traveling with the team some. That will be a welcome sight for the Bombers’ pitching staff, as Cole has always been viewed as an unofficial pitching coach.

“I want to encourage him to start being Gerrit and being around and doing his thing and offering what he does,” Aaron Boone said. “So we’ve had that conversation, and I think he’s looking forward now to start adding to that.”

Cole, who remained a constant presence while recovering from elbow inflammation in 2024, said that contributing in such a way will be “good for my mental state and my heart.”

But in a turning of the tables, Cole has been leaning on past and present teammates as he undergoes a grueling rehab process for the first time.

Tommy John recipients Max Fried and Carlos Rodón have been a huge help. So has former Yankees and Pirates teammate Jameson Taillon, among others, as the Cubs starter has undergone Tommy John surgery twice.

“It’s been very nice to receive the support,” Cole said. “It’s been meaningful, and it’s been very helpful from the guys in this room and other people that have reached out as well.”

As for advice that stood out, Cole mentioned the first eight weeks being “really important” and understanding that “it’s not a super enjoyable” thing to go through.

“But you gotta not rush it and be where you are in the process,” he said. “It gets better and better as it goes along, but it takes a while.”

A model of good health prior to 2024, Cole said that he never thought he would need Tommy John surgery after defeating the odds for so long. He considers last year’s case of elbow inflammation and this year’s injury “two individual circumstances,” though he did say “maybe” when asked if his 2024 injury was a precursor to Tommy John surgery.

“I feel like if you’re a pitcher, you might need it, period,” he said before adding, “but my elbow’s just getting older. So probably, to a certain extent, yes.”

Cole is also getting older, and he considers himself “pragmatic.” Still, he hopes to return like a “new, fresh set of tires,” better than what he once was. That’s a high bar to set, especially at his age.

However, Justin Verlander, another friend and former teammate, won his third Cy Young Award at age 39 in 2022, his first season back from Tommy John. Don’t think Cole isn’t aware.

“There are a lot of great cases for it,” Cole said. “The success rate of returning to previous form is statistically very high. I just kind of get my motivation a little bit more glass half-empty sometimes than glass half-full, just to make sure I check all my Ps and Qs. The numbers are generally in my favor. That was obviously part of the confidence that you get when you have to make that decision.”

As Cole progresses, he’s trying not to think about what this year’s Yankees team could have looked like with him, as he wants to avoid “things that make me sad.”

He’s doing his best not to think too far ahead in general, though he did light up over the prospects of picking up a ball and glove this summer.

“August will be nice when I get to throw again,” Cole said. “I get to put the pants on and get out on the field with the guys, and that’ll be another step and sense of normalcy.”

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