The Yankees have placed RHP Luis Gil on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain, one day after he left his start against Cleveland in the fourth inning.
RHP Will Warren, who was scheduled to start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night, was recalled to replace Gil.
Gil was pulled after throwing a pitch to Jose Ramirez in the fourth, which he said after the game he began feeling in the third inning – but on Wednesday, Aaron Boone said he expects Gil to return sooner than later.
“It’s minor, it’s just lower back soreness,” Boone said before Wednesday’s game. “I think he feels better even already today and the hope is he’ll be able to stay pretty active through this stint and hopefully be back pitching right around that time.”
“I never felt anything like that,” Gil had said after Tuesday’s loss. “You’re a little worried because you’re coming out of the game because you’re feeling something that’s not right.”
Gil has thrown 124 2/3 innings this season over 24 starts, and as he is now over his previous career high, a recent rough patch has led to wonder if he is fatiguing or hitting a wall.
“Hopefully in the grand scheme of things, it serves as something that helps preserve him a little bit and save some stuff for him down the stretch,” Boone said. So don’t expect it to be long.”
Warren, who is 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA, was recalled immediately because the Yankees needed the injury stint to bring him back before they need a fifth starter again on Sunday. Warren started for the Yankees on Aug. 14 and was sent down the next day, so he would not have been eligible to return until Aug. 30 unless coming back as an injury replacement.
Boone said that because he hasn’t pitched in a week, Warren will be available if needed Wednesday out of a bullpen that used all eight relievers on Tuesday, and is likely without two if not three of those options with a night game before a day game Thursday.
That said, the Yankees may only need one or two starts from Warren, as they have an off-day next Thursday that can re-shuffle things as needed, and Gil is eligible to return when the Yankees start a post-Labor Day Weekend set at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6.
But, by that time, the Yankees could have Cody Poteet, who began a rehab assignment Tuesday after missing two months with a triceps issue, also ready to return, and Clarke Schmidt – out since mid-June with a lat strain and set to start a rehab assignment Friday – close, and with rosters expanding Sept. 1 allowing the Yankees can carry 14 pitchers, it remains to be seen if the Yankees choose to deploy Gil in a relief role, given their bullpen struggles, his innings, and the need for one less starter in the postseason.