The New York Yankees will be starting the regular season with an empty spot in their rotation, which has led to a warning about one of the team’s most promising young pitchers.
The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner reported that the Yankees plan to start with a four-man rotation, with uncertain plans for Luis Gil as the team continues to work on his release point to correct some lingering inefficiencies in his delivery.
While the Yankees will have close to two weeks to work with, they are facing a stark warning about Gil’s future in the rotation.
Yankees Face ‘Interesting’ Luis Gil Question
As Kirschner reported, the Yankees face an “interesting” question around Gil, noting that he has lingering issues with his effectiveness on the mound and only days before the start of the season.
“He has not performed well this spring, and there are major concerns about his viability in the rotation,” Kirschner wrote.
The Yankees hope that time — and plenty of repetition — could correct Gil’s issues. Kirschner shared a video showing the team working on his release point. But time could be running out.
“As a three-pitch pitcher who relies heavily on his fastball, he needs it to improve quickly; otherwise, heâs approaching the danger zone,” Kirschner wrote.
The Yankees have several days off through the first two weeks of the season and can “technically could roll with a four-man rotation until April 11,” Kirschner added. Gil still does have a minor league option, which could allow them to see how things shake out early in the season before making a decision.
“If they wanted, they could send Gil to the minor leagues to open the season and continue developing. In that case, the earliest they could recall him is April 9,” he wrote. “The Yankees have not ruled out this possibility. If they go with a four-man rotation to begin the season, it would allow them to have an extra reliever, with Winquest, Bird and Headrick the likely candidates.”
Others Raising Concern About Yankees Pitcher
Stephen Parello of FanSided’s Yanks Go Yard suggested that Gil’s absence from the rotation to start the season could be more than a short-term problem, noting that the former AL Rookie of the Year has been trying to regain his previous form.
“They’ve been tinkering with his arm angle and release point trying to add deception, but if we’re being honest, this is a problem that dates back to last season as well, when the whiff rate on his four-seamer dropped from 28.5% during his 2024 AL Rookie of the Year campaign to 18.8%,” Parello wrote. “His strikeout rate also plummeted from 26.8% to 16.8%.”
Parello suggested that it could take the Yankees more than a few weeks to correct the problems with Gil, adding that the team shouldn’t have let him get to 2026 without fixing it.
“This doesn’t seem like an easy fix,” Parello wrote. “And if it were, why did they not rectify it before the postseason when they really needed Gil and watched the Toronto Blue Jays tee off on him during the ALDS?”
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