The New York Yankees have officially activated Luis Gil off of the injured list ahead of this series against the Chicago Cubs. With Scott Effross being optioned back to Triple-A it opened up a spot on the 26-man roster for them to return one of their two injured starters who were expected to return this weekend. Gil looked like he would be the AL Rookie of the Year after a dominant start to his season but back tightness seemed to seriously hurt his command, and with the time he missed it’s become less likely that he’ll take home the award.
Still, he’s had a great rookie campaign and the Yankees will certainly enjoy having their uber-talented right-hander back on the roster after the rough starts Will Warren has delivered in his place.
Luis Gil Returns to the Yankees Ahead of Wrigley Field Showdown
Luis Gil was having an excellent season, posting a 3.39 ERA across 24 starts while striking out 27.5% of batters faced, but his last few starts were very concerning in the command department. He walked 13 batters over his final three starts before hitting the IL, posting a 5.25 ERA and 6.60 FIP in the process. It’s possible that his back issue caused his command to wane, as mechanically he looked all out of sorts against Cleveland and was unable to locate anything he was throwing.
The Yankees could certainly use the right-hander right now, especially given how nasty he looked with his new slider, a pitch that has dominated hitters since he introduced it. He had a run of four starts with a 33% strikeout rate and a 5% walk rate with that new pitch, getting more swings out of the zone and missing more bats as a result. If the Yankees are going to win the pennant, they’ll need their starters to pick it up, and Gil could be part of the solution for them. They should also expect Clarke Schmidt back this weekend, with him slated to take the ball on Saturday.
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Clarke Schmidt was arguably the Yankees’ best starter before he went down with a lat injury after their series against the San Diego Padres. The right-hander had a 2.52 ERA across 11 starts, striking out 27.1% of batters faced and looking better than he ever has before. The cutter has been a huge weapon for him alongside his breaking balls, missing bats and not allowing home runs at the rate we saw last season.
Left-handed batters haven’t been able to hit him much either, and the hope is that this young duo of homegrown starters can lift the Yankees’ pitching staff into the upper echelon among contenders. Gerrit Cole has looked great as of late, Carlos Rodon has been shoving for two months, and Nestor Cortes has looked sharper as of late as well. The question is the Yankees’ bullpen, especially after Clay Holmes blew a save on Tuesday to increase his total of blown saves on the year to 11.
We could see one of Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt move into a bullpen role, but only time will tell, if both are able to spin the ball well in their returns it wouldn’t be shocking to find them in the playoff rotation.