RHP Luis Gil will begin the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, news Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed on Tuesday.
Speaking prior to the Bombers’ final exhibition tune-up with the Cubs in Arizona, Boone revealed the second half of the puzzle that was announcing the Yankees would open with a four-man rotation to start: what Gil’s role will be if not part of that starting group.
“I think he was a little upset about it, but I feel like he's in a good frame of mind right now,” Boone told the media Tuesday. “It's a guy in the physical prime of his career, and like the measurable numbers, like the physical evaluations that strength and conditioning does, he's in the best physical place he's ever been in his life. He's as strong as he's ever been, and we feel like that's going to translate, hopefully, based on what we saw in his last outing.”
Gil, who had one rough outing that altered an otherwise decent spring line, was already scheduled to stay behind in Tampa to throw a simulated game on Wednesday, as the Yankees won’t even play their fifth game until March 31, so he would be able to stay on schedule.
However, with four off-days in the first 13 days of the season, the Yankees can have a four-man rotation pitch on regular or extended rest and not need a fifth starter until April 11 in Tampa. As Gil would have to spend 10 days in the minors to be recalled outside of an injury, optioning him now allows him to throw the sim game in Tampa and make two starts in Triple-A before that need would arise.
“He’d like to be a starter with us, so it’s frustrating,” pitching coach Matt Blake said over the weekend about Gil. “But at the same time, he understands the position we’re in with the way the schedule lines up for the first two weeks. Now it’s a matter of making sure we do right by him and keep him in rhythm, and also find the best balance for the bullpen and our starting group.”
The Yankees will carry nine relievers to start the season with Gil in the minors, a move that also paves the way for Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest to make the team, and join likely Brent Headrick and Jake Bird in the final two open spots in a ‘pen that has David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, and Fernando Cruz locked into the back-end, with Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn available as longer relievers.
