The cadre of Yankees trade deadline acquisitions might still be finding their footing, but all was right with at least one reinforcement Saturday.
Luis Gil looked far more like the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year on Old-Timers’ Day in The Bronx than he did last week in a shaky season debut and return from injury.
Gil lasted 5 ¹/₃ innings of a sorely-needed 5-4 win against Houston, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out seven in a badly needed performance from the righty.
“I believe so,” Gil said through an interpreter, when asked if he felt close to last season’s form. “More importantly, even if you get to a level like that, you want to keep improving, especially getting better in the strike zone. That’s always a focus.”
The Yankees, who have weathered injury issues in their rotation all year, are in dire need of Gil’s return from a high grade lat strain being a successful one. He struggled through 3 ¹/₃ innings last week against the Marlins, but the second time around was a major step in the right direction.
After Jeremy Peña led off the game with a home run, the Astros had just one base runner through their next nine batters, with Gil striking out the side in the third inning in a high point of the day.
While the second run he gave up was scored as earned, it did come with a bit of an asterisk; as Jesús Sánchez hit one off the wall that Giancarlo Stanton misplayed in right field, turning a single into a double. Taking the extra base ultimately allowed Sánchez to score on Carlos Correa’s single, as he just barely beat Stanton’s throw from right.
Gil hit some trouble in the fifth, putting two on with two out, but got out of it by striking out Sánchez.
“Even in the first inning, I felt he was searching to find it a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Then I thought he came out in the second inning and had his best inning. Was in the strike zone, found some rhythm, flirted with a few three-ball counts but for the most part was able to win those. I thought he had a presence with everything.”
Just as important, Gil topped out at 98.4 mph on his fastball and induced 15 swings and misses, both strong numbers. He stayed on top of hitters throughout, finishing with 91 pitches, which Boone said was his limit.
That is not only what the Yankees needed to help stop their spiral, it was just the kind of start that Gil needed after his lackluster debut.
If it is a sign of things to come, then it is one of the only positive signs the Yankees have had in weeks.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
