The New York Yankees may have to spend some time without one of their most promising young stars.
Yankees starter Luis Gil was shut down after sensing irritation in his pitching shoulder during a bullpen session on Friday. Yankee manager Aaron Boone told reporters that the righty flamethrower will undergo an MRI Friday for further testing.
“Hopefully it’s not something too serious, but also feels like something that’s going to cost us some time,” said Boone.
Gil is just two seasons removed from Tommy John surgery, and when he pulled himself from the bullpen session after just a few pitches, Boone was admittedly worried.
“When a pitcher stops his bullpen, that’s concerning,” said Boone. “But I also don’t want to get too far ahead. We’ll see what we have. But anytime they pull themselves from a bullpen a couple pitches in, that’s concerning.”
Gil is coming off the heels of a historic first full season in the big leagues. Over 29 starts, the 26-year-old held a 3.50 ERA with 171 strikeouts in 151.2 innings pitched. He led the AL in opponent’s batting average (.189) and was fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1).
He won the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year Award, narrowly edging out Colton Cowser of the Baltimore Orioles and fellow Yankee, catcher Austin Wells.
Gil became the first Yankee to win the Rookie of the Year since captain Aaron Judge took it home in 2017. He is the first pitcher in pinstripes to win the award since Dave Righetti in 1981, and just the tenth player in the franchise’s storied history to receive the honor.
New York trusted the young phenom with the ball as they reached their first World Series in 15 years. Across a pair of postseason starts against the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers, Gil gave up six earned runs over eight innings.
Gil’s injury reflects another detrimental loss for the Yankees this spring. The club is already planning on marching into Opening Day without the reigning ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who returned to New York earlier this week with no signs of returning anytime soon.
The Yankees are currently in possession of six starters, with Marcus Stroman seemingly the odd man out of the five-man rotation. While rumors circulated throughout the offseason that the Yankees were attempting to trade Stroman before Opening Day, he will likely remain in the rotation if Gil is sidelined for the foreseeable future.
