The Yankees brought Luis Gil back from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday morning and will use the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year as a reliever with some length. It is his first look in the majors since April, and it comes at a time when the Yankees are sorting through a crowded bullpen race for October.
That race has room, but not much. David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick and Tim Hill would be on the playoff roster if healthy, while Michael Fulmer and Ryan Yarbrough are already in the bullpen mix and Elmer Rodríguez and Will Warren remain conversion candidates. Yerry De los Santos was just-optioned, and Angel Chivilli and Ryan Weathers are sidelined, which leaves the Yankees testing how many true openings they really have.
Gil’s case rests on the stuff. He opened a rehab assignment on Aug. 11, pitched three times for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and finished with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out six. His fastball averaged 96.1 mph in that stint, a step up from the 95 mph he sat at in his four April starts, and Aaron Boone said the right-hander has a very high ceiling and is in a pretty good place right now.
But the old problem is still there. Gil has always lived close to the edge with his walks, and when his velocity dipped in April, his effectiveness went with it. That is why this callup matters beyond one roster move: the Yankees are not simply looking for arms, they are trying to find pitchers they can trust when the games start to count more and every spot in the bullpen gets sharper scrutiny.
Clarke Schmidt is part of that same conversation. He pitched professionally again on Saturday in Double-A Somerset, throwing 20 pitches, 16 for strikes, and said afterward that it felt great after a long process and that getting back in front of a crowd was a lot of fun. He allowed a triple and a home run, struck out two and said he believed he would pitch next Wednesday, which means the Yankees still have time before they have to decide whether his role, like Gil’s, is as a reliever or something else entirely.
