Yankees’ Latest Injury Deals Major Blow to Starting Rotation

Luis Gil’s up-and-down season might have hit a low point Tuesday.

The New York Yankees rookie tossed three sloppy innings against the Cleveland Guardians, then left the game three batters into the fourth inning with an injury.

The rookie right-hander walked five batters and allowed two runs across the first three innings of an eventual 9-5 Cleveland victory. Gil allowed a home run to No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio to begin the fourth inning, then walked Steven Kwan, his sixth walk of the game.

Midway through an at-bat by Jose Ramirez, Yankees manager Aaron Boone visited the mound with a trainer. Soon, Gil was on his way out of the game with an injury the team described as a lower back strain. Wednesday, he was placed on the 15-day injured list.

The Yankees recalled right-hander Will Warren from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Gil’s place on the active roster.

Gil, 26, is 12-6 with a 3.39 ERA — lowest among the Yankees’ healthy starters — in 24 starts this season. He’s struck out 144 batters in 124.2 innings and leads all American League rookie pitchers in FanGraphs’ version of Wins Above Replacement.

An extended stay on IL would not only hamper Gil’s chances in the awards race, it could set back the Yankees in what’s become a hotly contested American League East title chase.

Entering their Wednesday game against the Guardians, the Yankees (73-53) were in a virtual tie with the Baltimore Orioles (74-54) for first place in the American League East. The winner has an inside track on a first-round postseason bye. The runner-up must qualify for the AL Division Series by winning a best-of-three Wild Card round — a series so short, victory sometimes feels like a toss-up regardless of the teams involved.

“I tried to work through it, but you don’t want to force the issue and make it worse,” Gil said after the game Tuesday through an interpreter, via the Yankees’ regional network SNY. “I saw the doctor here and told me to take it day by day and we’ll see.”

Gil was 9-1 with a 2.03 ERA on June 14 when he hit his first rough patch of the season. He went on to lose his next four starts, and saw his ERA balloon to 3.41.

Gil went on a tear, however, going 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA over his next five outings, thrusting his name back into the forefront of the Rookie of the Year race and stabilizing the Yankees’ rotation.

In the best-case scenario, Gil’s back injury is just another bump in the road.

“It’s minor, just some lower back soreness,” Boone told reporters Wednesday. “I think he feels better even already today. The hope is that he’ll be able to stay pretty active through this stint and hopefully be back pitching right around (Sept. 5, the minimum 15-day stint).”