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The New York Yankees have made a difficult decision regarding a former Rookie of the Year award winner. It was revealed on March 23 that New York will begin the 2026 season with a four-man rotation. The move ultimately comes down to the team’s schedule to begin the campaign. The Yankees will have four off days within the first 13 days of the season.

With stars Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon still recovering from injuries, Luis Gil was previously considered a shoo-in to be involved in New York’s rotation to start 2026. Nevertheless, manager Aaron Boone has left out the 2024 Rookie of the Year winner for now. With Gil out, the Yankees will go with starters Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and newly acquired Ryan Weathers.

There were suggestions that Gil could be utilized out of the bullpen during the opening two weeks of the campaign. This, however, does not appear to be the case. New York Post’s Greg Joyce is reporting that Gil will begin 2026 in the minor leagues. The move comes even though the Yankees pitcher has the second-most strikeouts in all of spring training.

Strikeouts aside, Gil has not posted particularly great numbers this spring. The 28-year-old star has allowed 10 earned runs, including giving up six homers, in just over 19 innings on the mound. Interestingly enough, batters have either picked up a hit or struck out in 54% of combined at-bats against Gil in March. He did not allow a run in five innings of work in his most recent outing. Nevertheless, the showing was not enough to keep him on Boone’s opening day roster.

Luis Gil has Struggled to Regain 2024 Form with the New York Yankees

GettyLuis Gil will likely spend at least two weeks in the minors.

After short cameos with the Yankees in 2022 and 2023, Gil broke out in a big way in his first full season in the big leagues. During his dominant 2024 rookie campaign, the pitcher picked up 15 wins, to go along with a 3.50 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 171 strikeouts in 151 innings.  He managed to narrowly edge out Baltimore Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser in the Rookie of the Year voting. In fact, Gil had just two more first-place votes than the slugger.

Despite the stellar start to his career, injuries hampered Gil’s 2025 campaign. Due to ongoing lat issues, the pitcher only managed to make 11 starts on the season. While he lowered his ERA compared to the previous campaign, Gil’s strikeout and walk rates both went in disappointing directions.

Yankees Expected to Recall Pitcher in April

New York’s decision to send Gil to the minors may not be a tremendously ominous sign, though. The Yankees likely want to keep Gil in action as a starter until they need a five-man rotation. Although he could have come out of the bullpen for Boone, the manager can now opt to rely on a true reliever.

Gil will use the situation as motivation moving forward. He can now work on his stuff, including a focus on release point, against minor league hitters. Assuming everything goes as planned, Boone is expected to recall Gil in around two weeks’ time. Yankees fans will, however, be keeping an eye on the former Rookie of the Year winner during his minor league stint.

Christopher Moore Christopher Moore has been a Heavy.com contributor since 2025. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he has published thousands of articles reporting on multiple professional sports. He was previously a sports writer for World Soccer Talk, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and the Maryland Sports Blog. More about Christopher Moore

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