Meredith Marakovits of YES Network reported that the New York Yankees will have RHP Luis Gil begin his throwing program today. He suffered a high-grade lat strain during Spring Training that required a lengthy shutdown from baseball activities, but now the Yankees will have their star right-hander begin his road back to the big leagues.
Across 29 starts for the Yankees, Luis Gil posted a 3.50 ERA and struck out 171 batters as he was named AL Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season. The rotation suffered a slew of injuries, with 60% of their projected starting five being placed on the IL before Opening Day, including the devastating UCL tear for Gerrit Cole. With the team looking to upgrade their rotation and pitching staff as a whole, Gil can present a reinforcement who could return before the All-Star Break if all goes well.
Luis Gil Takes First Big Step Towards Returning to Yankees’ Rotation
The Yankees were devastated to find out that Luis Gil would miss an extensive period of time due to a high-grade lat strain that he suffered during a bullpen session. Concern around the injury was high, and it was known pretty early on that they would lose Gil for at least an extended period of time when he pulled himself off the mound. Gil was a key part of last season’s rotation, stabilizing that group when Gerrit Cole missed the first few months of the 2024 season.
He won the final rotation job seemingly out of nowhere, as the right-hander developed a brand-new changeup with tons of vertical drop and lateral movement. Gil already has a blistering fastball and excellent slider, but that third pitch helped propel the flamethrower towards winning the AL Rookie of the Year. His stuff is off-the-charts, and the team believes that he can develop better command to become a true frontline starter at the MLB level.
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Luis Gil presents a massive upgrade for the Yankees, but his date of return is yet to be properly determined as things stand right now. He’ll need to essentially have an entire Spring Training to ramp back up, as he was shut down in early March and has been cleared to throw today on the final Sunday of April. It’s been roughly seven weeks since he was shut down, meaning he’ll need a similar amount of time to get himself ready to pitch in an MLB game.
That would slate Luis Gil for a mid-June return, which wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario and is right in line with what many thought he’d return when the initial diagnosis came out. Until then, the Yankees will continue leaning on their current starting five and hoping that they can stay healthy, as their rotation depth is quite depleted. Marcus Stroman has yet to have an established timeline for a return, but I’m not sure the Yankees want him to take the ball right now either.