The New York Yankees are having a bit of a pickle with their rotation. Their starting rotation was supposed to be set with the arrival of Marcus Stroman and the return of Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes. However… after the injury to Gerrit Cole, New York is in desperate need of a fifth pitcher… or a fourth.
Because of that, the Yankees are looking at every possible option. In fact, the Yankees are considering Luis Gil as a potential name to add to their rotation, per Joel Sherman. What's so weird about that? Well, Gil is coming off Tommy John surgery, after all, and the team is not giving him a pitch count.
“The Yankees are seriously considering Luis Gil to be the fifth starter to open the season — without innings restrictions. Though he pitched four minor-league innings last season after Tommy John surgery and 134¹/₃ innings of affiliated pro ball since 2020. And his career-high was 96 innings in 2019.”
Is the Yankees' pitching situation this dire? Yes, yes it is.
Luis Gil's injury
Gil was absent for the entire 2023 season after suffering a brutal elbow injury. The Yankees pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery due to the injury. Even before that, though, Gil has not been an innings-eater. As Sherman noted, his career-high in innings pitched is 96, and he has just around 136 innings total for his career since 2020.
So far, Gil is playing pretty well during Spring Training. In the four games he pitched in (two of which were starts), the Yankees pitcher posted an ERA of 2.31. He has 18 strikeouts to his name to just four walks and has allowed just five hits. It's no surprise that the Yankees are seriously considering Gil as a part of their rotation.
The state of the Yankees' rotation
New York's rotation was set to be one of the better units in the league this season. The headliner, of course, is Gerrit Cole. The reigning Cy Young winner is coming off a dominant campaign, and he was set to return to form. Flanking him will be Clarke Schimdt and two veterans coming off injuries: Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes.
In addition, the Yankees also signed former Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman to their rotation. With Stroman in the fold, the Yankees had a pretty solid group of five pitchers to rain hell on their opponents. They will be deadly once they're unleashed.
However, the Yankees faithful will have to wait a bit before seeing this rotation in full swing. Cole's elbow injury will force the star to miss at least one to two months. Because of that, the team is now scrambling to find its fifth. There were rumors that the team could take a swing at a big-name free agent earlier in the offseason, but that rumor has long passed.
Yankees' plan moving forward
The Yankees are likely to continue this season with this rotation as the season goes on. They have a long season ahead of them, after all. There's no need to push their players too much.
How they handle Gil if he does suit up is a more interesting question. Gil is coming off Tommy John surgery, one of the most serious injuries for a pitcher. Not giving him a pitch count could be a calculated risk. Will this pay off for New York?
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