TORONTO — The emergence of Cam Schlittler has given the Yankees an enviable top three.
What became clear Saturday was they do not have a No. 4.
Luis Gil was given the ball instead of Will Warren, and Gil then had to give the ball to his bullpen in the third inning.
The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, who has never looked quite the same in an injury-abbreviated season, was short and ineffective in a 10-1, Game 1 destruction at the Blue Jays’ hands at Rogers Centre on Saturday.
Gil was often unhittable and often without control last season, when he relied on heat that touched triple-digits, struck out 10.15 batters per nine innings but walked 4.57 per nine.
This year, after returning from a right lat strain in August, Gil’s velocity has dipped in what the Yankees have said is an effort to better locate.
In some ways, he may be trading off some of his best stuff for some harder contact.
He walked no one Saturday. But he also was knocked around.
Gil lasted just 2 ⅔ innings in which he allowed four hits and two runs — both coming on home runs — while striking out two.
The third batter of the game for the Blue Jays, Yankees-killer Vladimir Guerrero Jr., saw a changeup that got too much of the plate and hammered it out to left field for a lead the Jays never surrendered.
An inning later it was Alejandro Kirk — who saw a 95.1 mph fastball, Gil living in the mid-90s now and not upper 90s — who jumped on a mistake four-seamer and crushed a no-doubt shot to left.
By the time Guerrero smacked another single in the third, manager Aaron Boone had seen enough.
On an evening the Yankees’ offense did little, it might not have mattered which fourth starter the Yankees tried.
But with Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Schlittler expected to pitch in Games 2-4, respectively, if this series lasts the distance the Yankees would be faced with the same unenviable position of selecting which fourth arm they trust the most.
It is possible Warren, who never warmed up in what became a bullpen game, would get the nod.
After how Game 1 went, though, the Yankees would love to be faced with Game 5 worries.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
