CHICAGO — Here’s why it might be tough to put Luis Gil in the bullpen.
While the Yankees could use him as a reliever, when the right-hander is healthy he is one of their most valuable starters.
In his return from the injured list, Gil was dominant, pitching six scoreless innings to lead the Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
“Excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought the last inning might have been his best. Really easy, no need to grab it. He looked really sharp at the end, which was encouraging. Six shutouts to start the series, we couldn’t have prepared it any better.”
After missing the minimum 15 days due to lower back strain, Gil barely missed a beat.
Her velocity declined slightly — her fastball averaged 95 mph compared to the 96.8 mph she averaged the rest of the year — but it didn’t affect her ability to get strikeouts, and she got stronger as the day went on.
Meanwhile, Gil could still hit 98 mph when he needed to, as he did in the second inning to get one of his seven strikeouts on the day.
He only walked two of them as well.
“The more innings I pitched, the more comfortable and relaxed I felt on the mound,” Gil said through an interpreter. “Arm felt good and had a good rhythm. I felt toward the end I had more velocity and I felt stronger.”
With Gil returning from the injured list on Friday, Clarke Schmidt is expected to do the same on Saturday, giving the Yankees a boost in terms of rotation if everyone stays healthy.
Boone said a starter is likely to end up in the bullpen, and it’s easy to imagine Gil’s play-stopping skills working well in the backfield.
But it was also easy to imagine Friday that Gil would be a solid choice to start a playoff game next month if he can keep up this pace despite having pitched well past his career high in innings.
“It’s a fight, so this opportunity will be great for us,” Gil said. “We just want to keep our team in the best position possible and keep fighting.”
New York Post
