Luis Gil Has One Last Chance to Save His Season

It looked like Gil's season was over, but now the New York Yankees might have a spot for him out of the bullpen.

New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil could find himself back in the big leagues next month as a reliever. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Yankees were banking on Carlos Lagrange coming into the bullpen at some point this season. The young righty can hit triple digits, but, unfortunately, as with most of the team's key pieces this year, he got injured.

Now there's an opportunity for one starter to find himself in a prominent bullpen role: Luis Gil, the former Rookie of the Year who was sent packing from the rotation before missing most of the year due to injury himself. The difference between Gil's rehab and that of Aaron Judge, Carlos Rodon, Max Fried, or Giancarlo Stanton is that there were no plans for Gil to contribute at the big-league level.

However, Gil has a shot to prove himself because general manager Brian Cashman didn't add at the deadline, and the team is still on the hunt for arms to fill their pen. He showed some intriguing stuff during a relief outing on Tuesday night in Triple-A for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Luis Gil made his 1st appearance out of the pen for Triple-A Scranton tonight, and he looked solid!!

Gil struck out 2 batters in a scoreless 6th inning, and the fastball Velo touched 97.6 mph👀

Both Ks ⬇️🔥 pic.twitter.com/drBahhGC8u

— Cai Rogers (@cai_rogers7) August 19, 2026

In two innings of relief and 37 pitches, Gil struck out two, walked two, didn't allow a hit, and had one hard-hit ball that went for an out. It was a 96.8 MPH groundout that traveled all of 21 feet. The three other balls put in play were all hit under 95 MPH.

A tick up in velocity for Gil

The most intriguing part of Gil's night was his fastball velocity. He averaged 94.9 MPH during his small big-league stint this season. He's been averaging 95 while in Triple-A, but last night, coming out of the bullpen, his heater averaged 96.1 MPH. Gil was able to generate five swings and misses with it, too.

The Yankees should really consider using Gil out of the bullpen and see if he can contribute in October. Since he came into the year built up, he could potentially be a multi-inning reliever, as he was used in Scranton in his most recent appearance. At some point, they should see what he can do against big leaguers and if that fastball can play up against tougher competition.

Ryan Yarbrough has somehow survived this long, and Gil could replace him in the bullpen. Since the start of July, Aaron Boone's designated multi-inning reliever has allowed a run in four of his eight appearances. Two were earned, but the eight runs he surrendered were due to allowing inherited runners to score.

New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (right) could be the odd man out in the bullpen when September rolls around. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What Yarbrough is doing could be a job for Gil at worst. The Yankees desperately needed quality innings at the deadline, and now there's a spot for Gil. If he proves himself and can get big league outs, though, he could come in and get more important big league innings — especially if that fastball velocity keeps ticking up.

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