CHICAGO — This is why it may be difficult to put Luis Gil in the bullpen.
As much as the Yankees could use him as a closer, when the right-hander is on, he is one of their most valuable starters.
In his return from the injured list, Gil was dominant, tossing six shutout innings of one-hit ball to lift the Yankees to a 3-0 win over the Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
“Excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I even thought that last inning might have been his best. Real easy, not having to reach for it. He seemed real sharp to me at the finish, which was encouraging. Overall, six shutout to get the series going, couldn’t have drawn it up better.”
After missing the minimum 15 days with a lower back strain, Gil hardly skipped a beat.
His velocity was down a tick — with his fastball averaging 95 mph compared to the 96.8 mph it averaged the rest of the year — but it did not affect his ability to get outs, and it got stronger as the day went on.
In between, Gil could still reach back for 98 mph when he needed it, like he did in the second inning to get one of his seven strikeouts on the day.
He also walked just two.
“The more innings I pitched, I was feeling more comfortable and more loose on the mound,” Gil said through an interpreter. “Arm was feeling good and in a good rhythm. Felt that towards the end, I had more [velocity] and felt stronger.”
While Gil made his return from the IL on Friday, Clarke Schmidt is set to do the same Saturday, giving the Yankees a rotation crunch if everyone stays healthy.
Boone has said one starter is likely to end up in the bullpen, and it is easy to imagine Gil’s shutdown stuff playing well at the back end.
But on Friday, it was also easy to imagine Gil being a strong choice to start a playoff game next month if he is able to keep this up despite being well past his career high in innings.
“It’s a fight, so that opportunity will be great for us,” Gil said. “We just want to keep our team in the best position possible and keep fighting.”
