Sal's Take On Luis Gil's Future

By Sal Maiorana

April 28, 2026

***

Sal Maiorana shares his thoughts on the Yankees.

Here is an edited version of Sal's latest article.

For Sal's complete analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

***

We get greedy when the Yankees go on a winning streak and you want it to last forever, and while that’s impossible, it still isn't fun when it’s over.

The end of their eight-game ride came Sunday, an ugly 7-4 loss to the Astros who, after getting pounded in the first two games, took out their frustrations on hapless Luis Gil Sunday and avoided a sweep.

Still, it was a nice run. Dating back to the sweep of the Royals, during the eight straight wins they outscored the enemy 56-16 as everything came together - the offense woke up, the slug returned, and the pitching was stupendous all the way through. Even their bullpen performed well.

This past week was particularly sweet as they swept the Red Sox at Fenway and pretty much ended the tenure of manager Alex Cora who was fired Saturday night. And then they flew down to Houston and while the Astros aren’t the same powerhouse that used to own the Yankees, it was still fun to watch those first two games.

Starting this road trip 5-1 against two of their biggest rivals is pretty good stuff, even with the sour taste that Gil left in our mouths during his miserable performance which is going to be his last for the foreseeable future as he was sent to Triple-A after the game for what might end up being an extended stay.

The Astros lit him up for six runs inside five innings and Gil generated only three swings and misses on his 83 pitches and did not strike out a single batter. His stuff simply isn’t MLB quality right now, and it’s a mystery what has happened because when you get right down to it, he really hasn’t been worth much since May 2024 when he went 6-0 with a 0.70 ERA and was named AL pitcher of the month.

Over his final 18 starts that year his ERA shot up to 4.58 and that didn’t include two poor starts he made in the postseason. He was still voted AL Rookie of the Year (even though I thought Baltimore’s Colton Cowser should have won it), but then in 2025 he suffered a right lat strain in spring training and he’s never come close to being the pitcher the Yankees thought they had.

He missed the first four months and when he came back his fastball velocity was down, his command issues became more prevalent as he averaged 5.2 walks per nine and he had a an unsightly 1.404 WHIP, then made another bad start in the postseason. Coming into 2026, his roster spot was safe only because Rodon, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt were not going to be ready out of the gate. It is safe no more.

His start in Boston was decent, but when you looked under the hood, it was more a product of the Red Sox being so awful at the plate. And yet as bad as they were, they swung and missed on just three of his 83 pitches - exactly the same as Houston - though they had two strikeouts.

For the season, Gil has pitched 12 fewer innings than any other Yankee starter yet he has allowed the most homers (6), earned runs (13) and walks (11).

“He struggled to get swing-and-miss again,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s just been struggling to get consistency with his delivery and fastball profile. A combination of not quite good enough command, the stuff not being as good as it is when Luis is at his very best - add that up, and you struggle to get that swing-and-miss.”

Rodon made his first rehab start Friday at Single-A Hudson Valley and it went pretty well. The left-hander threw 65 pitches (43 strikes) over 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing one hit, one walk and he hit a batter.

“Today was good, just getting back on the bike, feeling the slope out,” Rodón said. “Good to get back in a game and have a couple baserunners, a little bit of adrenaline to it, a real game. I’m champing at the bit you could say. There’s still part of the checklist I got to get through, get the pitch count up, throw a few more games to get back.”

I would guess he’s making at least two more starts and then hopefully he can slot back in sometime in mid-May, and the Cole shouldn’t be too further along. He made his second rehab start Thursday, also at Hudson Valley, and threw 42 strikes on 52 pitches across 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk.

The Yankees don’t need a fifth starter this next time through the rotation because they have an off day coming up on Thursday. By the time need arises again, the hope is that Rodon will be ready to return, or they’ll just have someone make a spot start - maybe Ryan Yarbrough, or maybe they would call up Elmer Rodriguez who is killing it down in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

There’s simply no place for Gil because he can’t be sent to the bullpen due to his maddening inconsistency, so the only viable option was sending him down to S/WB and hopefully he can find some consistency and at least make himself an option if injuries strike down the road.