Luis Gil setback hurts, but Yankees have shown resiliency in handling pressure
New York Yankees Marcus Stroman throws in the first inning of a spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. February 21, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla.
A year ago, right around this time, the Yankees were fretting about Gerrit Cole’s alarming elbow issues and Aaron Judge’s stubborn abdominal discomfort. Talk about your spring training nightmares.
Expecting the worst, people were ready to flush the 2024 season in mid-March (guilty as charged). But the prognosis wasn’t quite as bad as everyone feared. Cole didn’t require surgery and Judge mostly healed in time for Opening Day.
We bring this up again in light of Monday’s reveal that Luis Gil is suffering from a high-grade lat strain, an injury that necessitates an immediate six-week shutdown, and the weekend update that Giancarlo Stanton will begin the season on the injured list with his double-dose of tennis elbow.
These are not minor ailments. Manager Aaron Boone refused to speculate on a possible return date for Gil, saying that the reigning American League Rookie of the Year is undergoing further evaluation to determine the full extent of the injury. The best-case scenario? Probably early June, considering that Gil would have to resume his spring training buildup all over again once he starts throwing.
And here’s another unfavorable comp: Clarke Schmidt, who was sidelined with a lat muscle strain last May, was shut down for only four weeks — and he wound up missing more than three months before returning in September. That suggests an even lengthier rehab for Gil.
“Definitely makes it difficult,” Gil said Monday through an interpreter. “When you get news like this, it’s not easy to swallow.”
Boone’s tone spoke to the injury’s severity. Losing Gil, for however long, is a huge disappointment. It shouldn’t be considered a crushing blow, though, and the same goes for Stanton’s extended absence (he’s been away for a “personal” matter for a week now).
Let’s take Gil first. Remember what we said earlier about Cole? He was the reigning Cy Young Award winner when his elbow began acting up, and despite the dread about potential Tommy John surgery, he was prescribed only rest and meds for nerve irritation and the resulting edema in the joint. Even dodging that UCL bullet meant Cole couldn’t return until mid-June.
But a funny thing happened with Cole on the shelf. Rather than the remaining group stumbling around without its North Star, the exact opposite happened: the half-dozen that took over the steering wheel performed like the top rotation in the majors. Through the first 75 games minus Cole, the Yankees’ rotation led MLB in wins (36), ERA (2.86) and opponents’ batting average (.212). They also were third with a 1.12 WHIP.
If the Yankees could motor to baseball’s best record (51-24) last season while Cole was rehabbing his elbow, they should have no problem waiting on Gil. Not after the December signing of a co-ace in Max Fried, who made his Grapefruit League debut Monday night, and with Marcus Stroman sliding over from the trade block to fill the vacancy in the back end.
Last year’s group didn’t dwell on the loss of Cole. They not only kept the Yankees afloat but set them up to withstand the turbulence that came along later.
“The rotation — the consistency, and the start they got off to without our ace — was as big a reason we won the East as anything,” Boone said. “I think probably going into Opening Day, people had their question marks about that part of the team. And it turned out to be a real strength for us.”
Nestor Cortes, now a Brewer, was a key factor during that time. As was Cody Poteet (3-0, 2.14 ERA) in taking over for Schmidt, who went down with his own lat strain after 11 starts.
But the true ace of the no-Cole rotation? That would be the transcendent Gil, with his 9-1 record and 2.03 ERA through those first 2 1⁄2 months laying the foundation for his Rookie of the Year campaign.
Seeing how Gil stacked up to his rotation-mates last season, it’s not too much of a reach to suggest that losing him now isn’t all that different from Cole’s situation a year ago as far as being an impactful contributor (15-7, 3.50 ERA, 151 2⁄3 innings).
“You know these things are going to pop up,” Boone said. “They do at different times of the year. Hopefully, overall, you can stay fairly healthy. But unfortunately, these things are inevitable.”
Those words have never been more true when it comes to Stanton, whose annual trips to the IL once prompted general manager Brian Cashman to famously say that getting hurt “seems to be part of his game.”
The fact that Stanton will be spending time on the IL at the beginning of the regular season, rather than the middle or end, is the only surprising wrinkle, considering that he just had the winter off. The Yankees are so used to competing without their oft-injured DH that it’s more newsworthy when he’s actually in the lineup. And as long as the streaky Stanton gets there by October, typically his hottest month, anything else is usually a bonus.
This isn’t how the Yankees envisioned starting the season, but these March setbacks should have little bearing on how they finish it.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.