Luis

Gil

Yankees’ skipper Aaron Boone noted that Gil won’t throw for at least the next three weeks due to the issue. Boone also clarified that this is a new injury and not something that that was causing his poor performance during his time with the Yankees.

It’s not a huge surprise, but it’s still noteworthy. The 27-year-old didn’t fool the Houston hitters at all Sunday while allowing six runs over four-plus innings, and the Yankees will have Carlos Rodón available to them shortly. There’s still some long-term upside in Gil — he just had a 6 1/3 scoreless outing the game before — but he’s safe to drop in redraft formats.

Gil had good velocity today, but he induced just three missed swings and finished with no strikeouts. He also walked three. It seemed like he was in line to make one more start next weekend against Baltimore before Carlos Rodón’s return, but that might change after the weak showing today.

Credit to Gil, but a lot of this was bad hitting. Gil’s velocity was actually down about 1.5 mph on his fastballs and 3.5 mph on his slider, and he ended up with just two strikeouts and three walks. He gave up eight hard-hit balls, but those produced one single and eight outs (one was a GIDP). Gil now has a 4.11 ERA and a 9/8 K/BB over 15 1/3 innings over three starts. He’ll face the Astros on Sunday, but he’s in line to be replaced in the Yankees rotation sometime next month.

Gil looked great early in this one. His fastball had life, his changeup was dancing, and his slider was nasty. Through four innings, the only run on his ledger came via a solo home run from Adam Frazier of all people. Then, things fell apart in the fifth. Logan O’Hoppe jumped all over a letter-high fastball to tack on another run before Gil walked Zach Neto on four pitches. Then, Mike Trout stepped to the plate and hit his third home run in as many days. The pitch was in his wheelhouse: low and center cut. All three of the home runs the Angels hit came against Gil’s fastball and it was an ugly finish to what felt like it could’ve been a promising outing. He’ll take a 7.00 ERA through two outings into a two-start week in Boston and Houston coming up.

This was Gil’s season debut and he did not look crisp. After being spotted a two-run lead in the top of the first, he gave it right back after a walking Jonathan Aranda with two outs – when he was up 1-2 on him – before Yandy Díaz sent a hanging slider into orbit. From there, practically every batter felt like a slog as Gil struggled to throw his fastball in the zone. He eventually opted for more sinkers, which he also struggled to command. He’ll have a chance to improve next time out against the Angels at home.

He’ll get the start against the Rays on Friday. Gil isn’t a must-trust in his first start of the season, but he’s a reasonable streaming option in deeper leagues against a Tampa Bay lineup that has scored just 4.58 runs per game in its first 12 outings.

Gil also walked four and struck out six, but threw only 47 of his 90 pitches for strikes. Command has always been an issue for Gil, and it seems to still be a lingering one. We know he’ll be moving into the rotation this week, but it’s hard to recommend starting him in most fantasy leagues.

Gil will make his season debut for New York after opening the season in the minors to get stretched out. The 27-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance in his young career, but is difficult to trust as more than a streamer. The Rays do present some potential rewards in that regard, however.

Gil will remain stretched out in the minors until the Yankees need a fifth starter, which will likely be at some point in mid-April. The 27-year-old’s strikeout potential makes him a viable streaming option in deeper mixed leagues but he’s extremely volatile from a control standpoint over the past calendar year.