In a week full of bad news, blunders, soreness, and lies, one of the recently healed Yankees made everyone feel slightly better by returning with a surgically-repaired magic elbow.
Right-hander Luis Gil’s fastball always had giddy up, prior to Tommy John surgery that knocked him out midway through the 2022 season. Since his valiant spring training debut in the opener against Detroit, though, it’s somehow seemed even more heated than in previous seasons.
Gil helpfully peaked on Monday afternoon, while all of Yankees Universe was fighting the collective urge to stick their hands onto a red-hot oven while awaiting Gerrit Cole’s MRI results (and, unknowingly, Aaron Judge’s).
The right-hander covered 3 2/3 innings against a collection of Phillies starters that closely resembled their projected Opening Day lineup. He whiffed eight Phils in the shutout frames, leaving the home announcers mostly agog at how his 98-100 MPH heater was cutting to the edges of the zone.
Head to the six-second mark of the video below to hear a well-timed “sheesh” and an off-handed, “You see that cut?” Little did these announcers know that six more strikeouts were set to quickly follow behind that swing-and-a-miss.
Saturday’s outing — 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball against the Blue Jays, 99 MPH heaters — was equally impressive. Gee, isn’t there a rotation spot open? Just wondering.
You know, once upon a time, there was a Yankees starter who struggled to crack the rotation or find any consistency until, one day, a God-given cutter was bestowed upon his right arm, leading him to new life in the bullpen. Once he got there, he stuck around for quite a while.
No, I didn’t say his name. You did.
Regardless of his role, Gil has swiftly proven himself to be a certified 2024 piece, impressing alongside Clayton Beeter (who also dominated the Phillies’ starters on Monday) and Will Warren (who carved through the flaming hot Orioles). He might ultimately settle in the bullpen — and soon, with spots up for grabs — but watching him maintain elite stuff (and, almost more importantly, a surprise infusion of command) for nearly four innings was the cherry on top of an otherwise fairly disastrous Monday for these embattled Yankees.
