Luis Gil: Rise of New Star pitcher In New York

On March 28th, the New York Yankees put Ace Gerrit Cole on the 10-day Injured List. It was the biggest blow to the rotation to lose the reigning Cy Young Award winner. To replace him, they looked to spring training. Manager Aaron Boone and the front office decided to go with Luis Gil.

Luis Gil, born in Azua, DR, was signed by the Twins in 2015 and traded to the Yankees in 2018. He was ranked as the #16 prospect heading into the 2023 season and was set to join the rotation of the Triple-A team in Scranton until he was called back up to the starting rotation to replace Gerrit Cole. Coming off a shoulder surgery, it seemed like there weren't high expectations for the right-hander, as he was just the pitcher to fill in at the back of the rotation until Cole returned. However, he exceeded expectations and emerged as the breakout star of the Yankees.

In his first few starts, he would throw some solid starts but ones not going through the 6 innings, but was striking hitters out, as his low strikeout in a start in April was 6. Even having a bad one versus the Milwaukee Brewers and allowing 5 runs and 7 hits in a 5-inning start that led to a loss. Then the calendar turned to May and he turned into a whole another level.

In his first start in May against the Baltimore Orioles, he pitched over 6 innings for the first time in the season and allowed just 2 hits and no runs. In the next few starts, he allowed a combined 3 runs in 5 starts, even recording 14 strikeouts against the White Sox. In the last start of May, he went 8 innings against the Angels, lowering his ERA from 4.01 at the start of May to 1.99 by the end of the month. He broke the record for consecutive outings of 6 innings and 1 or fewer runs allowed in Yankees history after a June start against the Twins. He also allowed the 2nd fewest runs in Yankees history in a month, with just 3 runs.

His May would end with a 6-0 record, 0.70 ERA, 44 strikeouts, and 0.76 WHIP. He would end up winning the honors of AL Pitcher of the month for his performance. His arsenal consists of a 3-pitch combo of fastball, changeup, and slider. He uses mostly the fastball to strike hitters out, while the changeup and slider mix it up to confuse hitters. His season totals coming into June 8th, being a 10-2 record, with a 1.82 ERA, striking out 85 hitters, and only allowing 30 hits all season.

Luis Gil went from being a pitcher who would have pitched in the minors for the Yankees to becoming a big contributor to the first-place Yankees. Originally from the Dominican Republic, he was acquired in 2018 and with the help of pitching coach Matt Blake, he has become a rising star and is most likely to be selected as an All-Star, looking like the American League starter. It shows how the "next man up" turned into a Cy Young Contender.