PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Gerrit Cole is ready for game action.

Well, exhibition game action, anyway, as the Yankees’ announced that the right-hander is scheduled to start Wednesday’s spring training contest against the Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It will be Cole’s first start of any kind since undergoing Tommy John surgery a little over a year ago.

The plan is for Cole, who has cracked 97 mph in live batting practice sessions this spring, to throw one inning against Boston. While it won’t be a long outing, it will check a box that Cole and the Yankees previously stopped short of committing to this spring.

The outing will also mark the most significant step yet in a rehab process that has gone as planned thus far.

“Everyone’s been excited just how good he’s looked,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees played the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. “So the fact that he’s getting into a game now, I think just kind of indicates where he is and how well it is going. I don’t want, necessarily, people to think we’re speeding this thing up or anything. That’s not the case. It’s just he’s ready to do this.”

Despite the welcomed lack of hiccups, the Yankees and Cole have been adamant about not accelerating that rehab process this spring. That remains unchanged with a week left to go in camp, meaning the 2023 Cy Young winner is still looking at late-May or early-June for his season debut in a best-case scenario.

“I think we’ve been and he’s been very disciplined,” Boone said. “That’s one of the reasons I think the rehab process for him has gone well. He’s listened to, obviously, the doctors and all the people that are involved, and he’s crushed the rehab. But I don’t think we’ve rushed anything as we’ve gone either.”

Rodón won’t get game action

While the Yankees are looking forward to Cole’s spring debut, Boone said that he doesn’t think Carlos Rodón (elbow surgery) will get in an exhibition game with a week left in camp. That’s due to the way schedules are lined up, the manager said.

Rodón is slated to throw two innings and 35 pitches in a live batting practice session on Thursday, and Boone still hopes to have him back sometime in April.

“He’s doing well,” Boone said. “He’s not far behind.”

The skipper added that he isn’t sure where Rodón and Cole will be when the regular season begins, but options include staying back in Tampa for extended spring or beginning rehab assignments.

McMahon trusted at short

While Ryan McMahon is still developing some instincts at shortstop, Boone said he would be comfortable with the infielder playing the position and being a “true backup” if the regular season were today.

“I think he can handle it,” Boone said with McMahon making another start at short on Tuesday. “He’s such a natural fielder and arm, and I think he’ll have enough range to hold his own there as well.”

The slick-fielding McMahon is still set to be the Yankees’ primary third baseman. But with the Bombers trusting him at shortstop in an emergency situation, they won’t have to carry a more tested backup for the position on their bench.

With that in mind, the likeliest configuration for their bench includes catcher J.C. Escarra, outfielder Randal Grichuk, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and utilityman Amed Rosario. The Yankees could have theoretically used first baseman Ben Rice as a backup catcher, swapping out Escarra for an experienced backup shortstop like Oswaldo Cabrera or Max Schuemann, but Rice hasn’t caught in a game this spring.

Cabrera, returning from an ankle fracture suffered last May, also didn’t start playing in games until recently.

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