Yankees place Luis Gil on 15-day injured list, call up Will Warren

Luis Gil didn’t hide his concern.

“Never felt anything like that,” the Yankees' righthander said after being removed in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 9-5 loss in 12 innings to the Guardians with tightness in his lower back. “You’re a little worried because you come out of the game because you’re feeling something that’s not right.”

So it came as no surprise that on Wednesday the 26-year-old was put on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain. Rookie prospect Will Warren, who has made three spots starts in the last month, was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Gil’s spot on the roster.

However, Aaron Boone said before Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland, Warren isn’t necessarily taking Gil’s spot in the rotation.

With the bullpen continuing to get taxed it seems on a nightly basis – Boone had to use all eight of his relievers in Tuesday’s loss – Warren was available in relief Wednesday and likely will be Thursday afternoon as well.

If Warren isn’t needed out of the bullpen in the coming days, then the 25-year-old is all but certain to take Gil’s spot in the rotation.

Boone said he expects Gil back “in short order,” meaning at the end of the pitcher’s requisite 15 days on the IL.

Meanwhile, a rotation member who shined the first two months of the season is scheduled to start his long-awaited rehab assignment this weekend.

Clarke Schmidt, 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 11 starts before landing on the IL May 30 with a right lat strain, said the plan is for him to start Friday night for Double-A Somerset in Portland, Maine.

“I feel really good,” Schmidt said in the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon after throwing a bullpen.

Of the number of rehab starts he’ll need, Schmidt, who will be on a pitch count in the 40-45 range Friday, said: “Hopefully, it won’t be too many.”

He is expected to be joined in Portland over the weekend by first baseman Anthony Rizzo, out since June 18 with a right forearm fracture.

“It’s what I get paid to do, right? Play. I miss playing,” Rizzo said with a smile after taking batting practice on the field Wednesday. “I want to come back and help this team.”

Rizzo said the expectation is he’ll solely DH in the early going of his rehab assignment, the length of which has not been determined.

On Tuesday Boone said the “healing” of the fracture was taking its time. Rizzo said Wednesday the last time he felt something in the affected area was “a week or two ago,” but that the arm has made it through all of the baseball activities – which includes full rounds of hitting and work in the field – without issue.

“It feels good,” Rizzo said. “Obviously, the CAT scan isn’t going to lie, but it feels really good. I feel my strength is up to strength with my left arm, so just continuing to build.”

For the weekend, at least, the Somerset Patriots will be the Somerset Patriots/Yankees because the organization plans to send a handful of rehabbing players there. Ian Hamilton, out since June 18 with a right lat strain, will join Schmidt and Rizzo, and it’s possible utility man Jon Berti, out since May 25 with a left calf strain, heads there, too.

Righthander Cody Poteet, on the IL since June 18 with a right triceps strain, joined Somerset on Tuesday.

The potential return of Rizzo should not be undersold for the stretch run. Though the 35-year-old wasn’t good when he went down – hitting .223 with eight homers and a .630 OPS – he’s still a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner at the position.

DJ LeMahieu, after showing some brief signs of a resurgence, went 0-for-5 Tuesday night and is hitting .189 with two homers and a .512 OPS. A four-time Gold Glove recipient, LeMahieu’s performance has dipped in the field. The lefty-hitting rookie Ben Rice, who started Wednesday night even with Cleveland starting lefthander Joey Cantillo, is nonetheless still learning first base on the fly at the big-league level (Rice was drafted as a catcher in 2021). That is hardly an ideal situation for what should be a photo finish in the AL East with the Orioles.

Rice, though he’s hit seven homers since coming up in June when Rizzo got hurt, entered the night hitting .188 with a .678 OPS in 43 games. Since blasting three home runs July 6 against the Red Sox, Rice is hitting .122 with three homers and a .495 OPS in 26 games (22 starts).