There is one New York Yankees pitching prospect that has maintained his spot over the last year in a very fluid minor league system. We have seen some prospects over time rapidity climb up the system then flame out (Chance Adams), and we’ve also seen guys be at the top of the system and turn into great players at the highest level (Gleyber Torres & Miguel Andujar). Luis Gil is a prospect that a lot of New York Yankees fans should really be excited about. Gil is one of the few minor league pitcher that had a consistently dominant year in 2019. Gil has been a top-five prospect the last couple of years for the Yankees, and when you watch him pitch, it’s easy to see why.
Attack Mode
Standing 6’3, Luis Gil is always in attack mode when he’s on the mound. He possesses a fastball that grades at a 75 on the 20-80 scouting scale. His fastball consistently sits in the 96-99 range and he will flash some three-digit fastballs throughout any game. However, it’s not just the speed of Gil’s fastball, it’s the movement. In watching him a few times, his fastball has great rising action which generates an incredible amount of swing and misses. Batters often look lost against his fastball in a similar way that Gerrit Cole can make major league hitters look lost with his fastball. Gil also has a developing slider and changeup in his arsenal. Last year, Gil posted a 2.72 ERA in 96 innings in A ball. Gil averaged an impressive 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings last year.
What to work on
There are some drawbacks to this top prospect. While Gil has an incredible fastball that could play at the MLB level right now, he really needs to work on his secondary pitches. His slider and change are developing, but they are not close to being MLB ready. Another thing Gil needs to work on is his command. Last season, Gil had a walk rate of 4.5 which was the best in his career. It’s still not a great number, but it’s encouraging to see him tracking in the right direction. You do not see a fastball like Luis Gil’s fastball come through the system every day. If he can tighten up his control and take those average offspeed pitches and make them plus pitches, Gil could be a top of the rotation kind of arm. Whenever the 2020 season begins, Yankees fans should keep an eye on the talented right-hander from the Dominican Republic.