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06/21 11:31 CDT Yankees RHP Luis Gil faces hitters for 1st time since straining
his right lat
Yankees RHP Luis Gil faces hitters for 1st time since straining his right lat
By LARRY FLEISHER
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) --- Luis Gil faced hitters for the first time since straining his
right lat in spring training, throwing about 20 pitches in a session New York
Yankees manager Aaron Boone described on Saturday as "free and easy."
About two hours before the Yankees continued their three-game series with
Baltimore, Gil notched four strikeouts --- three swinging. Since several of the
backups who would take part in live sessions were in the lineup, Gil threw to
bullpen catcher Peter Serruto and information coordinator Ryan McLaughlin.
"I felt it looked really good," Boone said. "I think he was 95, 96. It looked
every bit of that, looked like it. Just the metrics on the four-seam were
really good and I thought he was in control of himself. So free and easy."
The Yankees are unsure of how many more times Gil will face hitters before
progressing to a rehab game. Boone is hopeful the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year
can return by the end of July.
"I felt really good out there," Gil said through a translator. "It's been a
long process. You heal little by little. It felt good to get on the mound to
face some hitters."
Gil stopped a bullpen session on Feb. 28 because of tightness in his pitching
shoulder. He went to New York for a second MRI that revealed a high-grade lat
strain on March 3.
Gil was shut down from throwing for at least six weeks after receiving the
original diagnosis, and at the time the Yankees said he would not return until
June at the earliest. On April 16, the Yankees said Gil's throwing program
would be delayed for about 10 days.
"It's important. Fortunately, after the setback, it's been a slow build up, but
it's gone well," Boone said. "It feels like kind of every step of the way. So
that's been encouraging and now we start to build. We start to build lives,
pitch counts and then eventually getting into rehab games. So definitely
another important box to check."
The 26-year-old Gil went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 29 starts for the AL East
champions last year, striking out 171 and walking a major league-high 77 in 151
2/3 innings. Acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a 2018 trade, Gil made a
successful return from Tommy John surgery and threw eight more innings in a
pair of postseason starts as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first
time since 2009.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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