Over the course of the Yankees 121 year history, no rookie had ever struck out 14 batters in a Major League game. That is until Saturday.
Luis Gil turned in a sterling 6IP, giving up 1 walk, 5 hits, and 1 earned run vs. the Chicago White Sox, sitting down 14 batters in the process. The 25 year old was largely expected to begin the year in the minors. However after Gerrit Cole was shut down in March due to an elbow injury, Gil was inserted into the starting rotation out of necessity.
That move appears to have turned into an unforeseen stroke of luck for the Bronx Bombers, who currently boast an AL-best 32-15 record through the first quarter of the season.
Few would have predicted what was to come Saturday afternoon given how Gil started the game off. The right hander needed 29 pitches to get out of the frame, giving up his only run of the afternoon to Tommy Pham who came around to score off a bizarre check swing, RBI double off the bat of Andrew Benintendi.
From there however, Gil was on cruise control, producing 27 swing and misses, and striking out 9 of 10 batters faced at one point. When all was said and done, the Dominican born hurler punched out 14 White Sox batters, leaving the game with a 6-1 lead after 98 pitches.
For his part, Gil credits Cole for the rapid development in his game, as the perennial All-Star has been acting as a de-facto pitching coach as he continues to recover from his elbow ailment.
“I have a teacher, Gerrit Cole, who’s teaching me how to pitch, how to handle situations and how to execute,” Gil said via a translator. “And that’s what we’re doing, what he teaches me, and we’re applying it in the game.”
Across nine states, Gil sports a team best 2.39 ERA, good for 11th best in the majors amongst qualified pitchers. The rookie also sports a 5-1 record, 1.08 WHIP, and 62Ks across 49IP in 2024.
Depending how the Yankees opt to deploy their rotation over the coming week, Gil’s next start is likely to come against either the Mariners in the finale of their home stand or versus the Padres to open up their 9 game West Coast swing.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: YES Network. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.