Yanks Get Creative With Luis Gil

I feel like this shouldn’t be shocking news….but apparently it is for some. The Yankees are moving Luis Gil to Triple-A to start the season. Some fans on social media are shocked. Or maybe that isn’t the correct word to use here. Either way, the Yankees are getting crafty.

The Yankees are in Phoenix today preparing for an exhibition against the Cubs tomorrow. When the Yankees left Tampa yesterday, Ryan Weathers was on the plane for Phoenix and Gil was left behind, read more HERE. There is an interesting strategy to this.

In the first two weeks of the season, the Yankees will have FOUR days off. Yup, you read that correctly. The Yankees do not need a fifth starter until the second week in April. In theory, this could very easily be the Yankees starting rotation during this timeframe:

3/25: Max Fried
3/26: OFF DAY
3/27: Cam Schlittler
3/28: Will Warren
3/29: OFF DAY
3/30: Ryan Weathers
3/31: Fried
4/1: Schlittler
4/2: OFF DAY
4/3: Warren
4/4: Weathers
4/5: Fried
4/6: OFF DAY
4/7: Schlittler
4/8: Warren
4/9: Weathers
4/10: Fried
4/11: Luis Gil?

So the Yankees do not need to carry a fifth starter until the 11th. No one will need to pitch on short rest, this gives Gil the ability to go down and pitch regularly and continue to work on his mechanics. He’s made some recent adjustments that look like they are starting to pay off but, that has been his weakness all spring and the Yankees want to see more improvement so they feel comfortable his 6.28 ERA in four spring starts will not follow into the regular season. He has minor league options – the Yankees are simply giving him more time to get consistent before pitching in meaningful games.

I don’t hate it. I guess you could make the same case that Ryan Weathers would also benefit from the same option. So why not send Weathers down? He has an 11.68 ERA, so almost twice as bad as Gil. He hasn’t exactly earned a starting spot but the Yankees feel like Weathers has just had some “bad luck” in his starts whereas Gil’s ill fortune was due to poor mechanics. It’s an interesting argument, no matter how you look at it.

So even though Weathers has had some ugly results, the Yankees are going to stick with their gut and their “bad luck” excuses we have heard in the past. This is all just a strategy. Now we just have to wait and see if it works out. 

Gil will be back, the Yankees have enough arms and days off to get them through the first two weeks easily and it is going to work because Weathers and his bad luck won’t appear when the season starts. That’s what I am going with. I’m putting that into the universe to come true.

Get to work, Gil and work out the kinks!

–Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj