Amidst Gerrit Cole’s Impending Return, a Terrific Luis Gil Continues to Increase Aaron Boone’s Rotation Dilemma

Attention! The Bronx Bombers have a big issue on their hands. Or as DJ Khaled would say, they’re “suffering from success.” Fans saw Gerrit Cole‘s injury as the New York Yankees‘ doom. Most of their pitchers barring Clarke Schmidt were coming off of either injury (Luis Gil) or career-worst seasons (Carlos Rodon). But then they had something different on their minds. 

But while Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes Jr. performed like they were expected to, Luis Gil just exploded onto the scene. The fire-breathing (and still a rookie) pitcher has completely stolen the scene with his wide variety of pitches and sheer power. Such has been his domination that people are beginning to genuinely wonder just what the Yankees will do once Gerrit Cole returns. Will there be a six-man rotation (quite unusual for the Yankees)? Or will one of the current pitchers be sent to the bullpen? And if that happens – who would that be?

Famous insider Ken Rosenthal talked about it during this appearance on the Foul Territory Show. Rosenthal noted that assuming everyone in the staff stays healthy, the Yankees might “back off of Gil.” The reason for it? “He’s coming off Tommy John in 2022. This is his first full season. Since he’s not necessarily on an innings limit but you don’t want to go crazy with him either,” Rosenthal reasoned.

Rosenthal then explained that if the Yankees want Gil to be “a huge factor in October,” it’s the decision that the Yankees will have to make. It isn’t a new prediction. After all, Gil became a part of the rotation only because Cole got injured. However, one can’t deny that ever since then the 25-year-old hasn’t been anything but the gold standard of pitchers in the Bronx Bombers.

The sheer consistency and improvement shown by Luis Gil has made things highly interesting in the Yankees clubhouse. Perhaps that’s why the skipper Aaron Boone continues to sidestep the questions of Cole’s impending return.

Gerrit Cole’s June return gives the Yankees a Luis Gil headache 

Gil has absolutely terrorized batters in his first full season since his Tommy John in 2022. With a 2.11 ERA, he has given up more than five hits only once in all his 10 outings. He’s currently the best performer in the Yankees’ rotation. And that makes talks of relegating him to the bullpen that much more confusing. Would a move down risk killing his momentum? 

As a result, Aaron Boone didn’t give a clear answer during his pregame conference. “It’s three, four, five, six weeks away. If at that point, we’re in this position, then that’s a good thing. We’ll do what we have to do…In the baseball calender, that’s still light years away,” Boone said. Certainly, the New York Yankees skipper doesn’t want to reveal all of his cards. However, one wonders whether he too is a little confused – how can you fix what isn’t broken?