The New York Yankees are preparing to begin the regular season without their ace.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Tuesday in Florida that it "would be difficult" to picture Gerrit Cole making the Opening Day start as he deals with an unspecified elbow injury.

Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, underwent an MRI on his right elbow Monday. Boone told reporters Cole will have more testing Tuesday. He said a prognosis is not imminent.

"It's probably going to be a couple of days until everybody weighs in on it," Boone said.

Boone said the organization has begun discussing who will make the Opening Day start against the Houston Astros on March 28. The internal options are Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes.

Cole, 33, has made four consecutive Opening Day starts since signing with the Yankees in December 2019.

The right-hander has yet to land on the injured list as a Yankee; the only time he has missed was in August 2021, when he tested positive for COVID-19. He hasn't spent time on the injured list for a non-COVID ailment since an elbow injury in September 2016 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Cole went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts last season.