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Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Open to Concerning Luis Gil Decision

There's been major talks about the New York Yankees using a four-man rotation to start the year.
Jordon Lawrenz|
Sep 28, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (81) reacts as he heads to the dugout after the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Sep 28, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (81) reacts as he heads to the dugout after the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

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New York Yankees

The New York Yankees 2026 schedule is quite unique as it features a ton of off-days in their first few weeks.

Starting on March 25 already gives them a day head start on their competition, though the Yankees have off on March 26.

That off-day is one of many through April 11. Their schedule eventually begins to pick up, but this team is able to ease their way into things.

When The Athletics' Chris Kirschner was predicting the team's Opening Day roster, he looked at a big decision manager Aaron Boone has to make when it comes to their fifth starter: Luis Gil.

Luis Gil Could Start the Year in Triple-A

While this would come as a major shock to Yankees fans, Gil simply hasn't been great this spring and this is far from a demotion. It certainly seems like it, but at the end of the day there's no one replacing him in the starting rotation.

That won't always be the case as Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole are on their way back, but for now, Gil has a spot locked up in the team's five-man rotation. That said, they know they don't need to start using five arms and that's something Boone has been weighing for quite some time.

"Where things become interesting is the lingering Luis Gil question. He has not performed well this spring, and there are major concerns about his viability in the rotation," Kirschner wrote.

He continued, "If they wanted, they could send Gil to the minor leagues to open the season and continue developing. In that case, the earliest they could recall him is April 9. The Yankees have not ruled out this possibility."

Yankees Must Figure Out Their Priorities

Baseball has the longest regular season of any sport which leaves a guy like Boone plenty of big decisions to be made. The Opening Day roster is certainly one of those, and leaving Gil off of it would allow for them to carry another reliever, for the time being.

A couple weeks with an extra arm in the bullpen would help players not only get back into things, but it would let Boone see where the highs and lows are when it comes to the one aspect of this team that failed to improve in the offseason.

Gil may lead the team in Spring Training with 17 strikeouts, but his 19 hits and 10 earned runs given up in 14.1 innings are far from what this team needs in their rotation. They're going to need him to turn things around quickly, and giving him a reset in the minors could be exactly what he needs.

To learn more about the Yankees from Spring Training and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!

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Jordon Lawrenz
JORDON LAWRENZ

Jordon Lawrenz is a writer for On SI, part of the Sports Illustrated Network. Jordon is an accomplished writer for NFL, MLB, and college football/basketball. He contributes to PFSN’s and Heavy’s NFL coverage. Having graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay with a Sports Communication and Journalism degree, Jordon fully embraced the sports writing lifestyle upon his relocation to Florida.

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