The New York Yankees’ hopes of winning a World Series may fall on the arms of whether or not Gerrit Cole can get back to pitching at an elite level before his Tommy John surgery a year ago.

The former Cy Young Winner continues to make solid progress in his recovery from the major procedure, but it’s unlikely he’s on the Opening Day roster.

During a recent interview, Cole shared what has been the most difficult part of his rehab, and it has nothing to do with pitching itself.

“Just the waiting has been the hardest part. The challenge of trying to take it day by day, not look too far ahead, and just kind of keep an even keel demeanor,” said Cole.

Despite the need to be patient between workouts, Cole continues to check the boxes in his rehab. His latest milestone was throwing 30 pitches in a two-inning simulated game on Friday. The Yankees ace had his fastball top out at 97.5 mph in this workout.

St. John’s is the back-to-back Big East champion after picking up a dominant win in the tournament final over UConn. The Red Storm looked strong in the 72-52 win over the Huskies.

St. John’s went on a 10-0 run to open the game, going up by as many as 17 points in the first half. The Huskies fought back, but they completely failed to score from the field in the final eight minutes of the game. UConn went 1-for-15 down the final stretch.

St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor was absolutely dominant on both sides of the court, putting up 18 points as well as 9 rebounds, 7 blocks and 3 steals. Bryce Hopkins also hit 18 points for the Red Storm, while Tarris Reed Jr. led UConn with 17 points.

The victory likely felt extra sweet for St. John’s, who lost to UConn by 32 points at the end of February as the regular season ramped down. Despite entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed, with UConn as the No. 2, the Red Storm were ranked lower than the Huskies in the AP poll — 13th vs. UConn’s sixth.

Two major additions to the bullpen were in good form, as Luke Weaver and Devin Williams each pitched a scoreless inning in a 6-3  exhibition game win. Weaver struck out one in his inning, while Williams fanned three.

Tough start

Craig Kimbrel allowed a run on three hits. Carlos Mendoza remains impressed with Kimbrel’s stuff, though, as the 37-year-old looks to find a place in the pen on his eighth team in the past six years.

Caught my eye

Mark Vientos was back at third base, this time for Team Nicaragua, as they prepare for the WBC.

Vientos has mostly been working at first base this spring, as the Mets look to use him, Brett Baty and newly signed Jorge Polanco there this year.