Spring 2023: Gil on mend after Tommy John surgery
Mar. 25—TAMPA, Fla. — Everything felt normal right up to that moment.
Back with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after a quick trip to the majors, Luis Gil had already been through the Worcester lineup twice and had surrendered just one run when the right-hander yanked a fastball.
That didn't feel right.
Next pitch, he slung in a slider. That certainly didn't feel good.
Gil immediately pointed to his elbow, motioned to the RailRiders dugout that he was done. Not long after, the 24-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery, costing him the rest of last season and, more than likely, most if not all of this one. But he's already progressed to his throwing program and is settling in for the long, slow road of rehab ahead.
"Feeling really good right now," Gil said through Friday through a translator. "It's a process, right? (I'm) right where I think I should be."
By the time that start in Worcester came around, Gil had rebounded from a rough start to the season. Over his first three games, he allowed 13 earned runs in just eight innings, failing to get out of the third inning in two of them. Over his next two, he fanned 14 and walked just three, so he was summoned for a spot start with the Yankees on May 12. There, he took a no decision against the Chicago White Sox after a four-inning, four-run outing and was sent back to Triple-A.
His first start came in Worcester, and Gil didn't allow a hit until Jarren Duran drilled a solo homer one out into the third inning. He struck out six of the first 19 hitters he faced, but with Ryan Fitzgerald at the plate in the fifth, that first fastball skipped in the dirt and registered at just 90 mph on the Worcester broadcast's radar gun.
"I felt it immediately," Gil said. "And then there wasn't pain, but I felt something, that something had happened. I wanted to make another pitch just to see and that's when I felt like I couldn't keep going.
After the next pitch, it was over.
"It's a bad injury," he said. "It's something that sticks with you. It's an injury that requires a long process to recuperate from. So, not a good day at all."
Gil's injury and last year's deadline deals that sent away Hayden Wesneski, Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears opens the door for the next wave of Yankees starting pitching prospects. Outside of guys like Jhony Brito, Matt Krook, Sean Boyle or Mitch Spence, however, those arms have yet to reach the upper levels of the minor leagues. Righty Will Warren was just named the Yankees' pitcher of the year for 2022, when he made 18 starts at Double-A. Clayton Beeter, who was acquired in the deal that sent Joey Gallo to the Los Angeles Dodgers, reached Double-A, too, but he's had a short leash in terms of innings limits over his career.
The first new face in the Triple-A rotation could very well be curveball specialist Randy Vásquez, who pitched to a 3.90 ERA over 25 starts at Double-A, finishing on a high note with eight innings of no-hit ball in the league championship game for Somerset. The 24-year-old was added to the 40-man roster in November.
Gil will have to wait for his chance to get back in the mix.
"You have to follow it (the rehab process) step by step," Gil said. "You don't want a delay. You don't want to derail the whole process. So, you have to be very — the discipline has to be there following everything that you need to do.
"And during that time, as you keep getting stronger and get back on the field, you have all your teammates around. They're a wealth of knowledge. A lot of our guys unfortunately have gone through injuries like this, so they're a good source to learn from their experience, talk about pitching. So, yeah you rely on your teammates to also help you through the process."
Contact the writer:
570-348-9125;
@RailRidersTT on Twitter
