Yankees’ Luis Gil shows his promise with career-best strikeout performance against Rays

Luis Gil has made four starts and has yet to allow more than three hits in any. His stuff plays. Opposing hitters rarely square him up.

The issue before Sunday’s start: walks. He had given out 14 free passes in 14 innings pitched, a major reason he hadn’t recorded an out past the fifth inning.

Against the Rays in the series finale, that was different.

With a much improved command, Gil was able to pitch into the sixth inning and record a career-high nine strikeouts as the Yankees won 5–4 at the Stadium to win the series.

Manager Aaron Boone commented, “It’s a really good peek at how good he is when he’s filling up the strike zone.”

After walking seven in a defeat to the Blue Jays, Gil saw some progress with this.

He routinely outran batters, and the one run he gave up was due to two errors on his own part: a balk and a wild throw during a pickoff attempt.

He walked three, issuing two to the final two batters he faced in the sixth inning. By then, he had run out of gas, throwing 97 pitches.

It was his first major league victory since August 3, 2021, and it was his second overall. He had Tommy John surgery in the interim, and he played in just two minor league games last season.

The 6-foot-2 Gil wasn’t supposed to be a part of the rotation this season prior to Gerrit Cole’s elbow injury.

Early in spring training, he was sent to minor league camp, but he defeated Clayton Beeter and Will Warren when the situation called for them.

“He was essentially saying, ‘Hey, I’m ready,'” according to Boone, regarding his performance and ball-throwing technique. It was evident in a way. He only kicked in the door, really.