The Dominican has been the most solid starter the “Bronx Bombers” have had, after losing the best pitcher in their rotation and without exact information on when they will have him back.
When Gerrit Cole had to be stopped from all baseball activity as a result of a nerve inflammation and edema problem in his throwing elbow, the question of how he could New York Yankees cope with the loss of the reigning Cy Young of the American League automatically invaded everyone. Not knowing how they would launch Carlos Rodón and Nestor Cortesafter a complicated year for both of us, and not knowing how Marcus Stroman would adapt to theBig Apple”, the opening rotation of the Yankees It was his biggest asterisk prior to the start of the 2024 campaign.
The men who make it up have done their job, but none has looked better than the man who was called to fill the gap. Gerrit Colethe dominican Luis Gil. The right was a highly risky bet on the part of the Yankees, since before 2024, he had only started in seven games, used mostly in bullpen games. He didn’t pitch last year at the Big leagues and it was the only available option left to the team, taking into account that they sacrificed an important part of their starting staff in the change that led to Juan Soto to New York.
The response of Gil The trust placed must surprise and please everyone inside and outside the organization. In his first seven outings of the year, Gil He leads the New York starters in ERA with 2.92, as well as in ERA+ with 135. In addition, he leads the American League in hits allowed in nine innings, with just 4.4, he is the pitcher of Yankees who has hit the fewest home runs and who has the best average of strikeouts per nine innings with 10.9. Luis Gil He has exceeded any expectations that were had for him when the team was forced to give him the rotation spot.
The only negative point he has shown so far is his high transfer rate, with 24 in 37 innings (MLB leader), which translates into 4.5 per 9 innings.
Whether that pace is something he can maintain or not is an answer that will have to be answered in the future, especially when the calendar starts to get complicated for the players. Yankees. However, in just seven outings he has surpassed absolutely everything that had been seen about him in MLBwhich is a great sign about the future.
