The Yankees announced this morning that they have activated right-hander Luis Gil from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Gil’s return to the 40-man roster, New York placed right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga on the 15-day injured list with mid-back tightness.
Gil, 27, suffered a high-grade lat strain before the season began and has been sidelined ever since. The AL Rookie of the Year last year turned in a solid season with a 3.50 ERA and a 4.14 FIP in 29 starts, but walked a whopping 12.1% of his opponents against a 26.8% strikeout rate and faded into a less effective version of himself down the stretch, Those later season struggles were understandable given the lack of volume Gil had thrown over the years. The righty actually made his big league debut back in 2021 but a variety of injuries left him able to make just seven starts in the big leagues across his first two years in the majors and cost him the 2023 campaign in its entirety.
That checkered injury history made it somewhat unsurprising when Gil once again missed significant time this year, but it was no less disappointing for the Yankees given that they’ve been without both Gil and Cole all year to this point and also saw Clarke Schmidt miss time early in the year before requiring Tommy John surgery shortly before the All-Star break. Those hits to the club’s rotation depth led the Yankees to view adding starting pitching help as a top priority heading into the trade deadline, but the club was unable to get a deal for a starter done in a year where few rotation pieces ended up moving. They fortified both the lineup and bullpen instead, hoping that a relief corps with four closers (Devin Williams, David Bednar, Luke Weaver, and Camilo Doval) will be enough to make up for those starting pitching deficiencies.
Even if that plan works out, the Yankees are banking on help from Gil and the eventual return of Ryan Yarbrough (as well as the efforts of rookies Will Warren and Cam Schlittler) to help piece together production behind Max Fried and Carlos Rodon. It’s a significant gamble that demonstrates plenty of faith in Gil, who offers plenty of upside but has not yet demonstrated much consistency at the big league level. The righty struggled to a 5.65 ERA across four rehab outings at the Double- and Triple-A levels in preparation for his return to the majors, but his 4 1/3 innings of one-run, seven-strikeout ball his last time out for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre offers some reason for optimism as he heads into today’s start against the Marlins and right-hander Edward Cabrera, against whom the Yankees are hoping to avoid getting swept after dropping the first two games in the series.
As for Loaisiga, Greg Joyce of the New York Post writes that the right-hander is headed back to the Bronx to be examined by the team’s doctor. Loasigia’s back issue has lingered in the days after his abbreviated outing on Friday where he hit a batter and allowed a hit before being pulled after recording just one out. Loaisiga has been dominant at times over the years but has struggled somewhat this year, with a 4.25 ERA and a 5.80 FIP in 29 2/3 innings of work this year. It’s unclear how long Loaisiga will be out, but the club’s recent reinforcements for the bullpen from trades prior to the deadline this past week should help make up for the loss.