Luis Gil has had a strong first full season in the New York Yankees’ starting rotation. However, despite his contribution to the Yankees’ 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone remains concerned about Gil’s struggles in the first inning.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Boone said, acknowledging the issue when asked about Gil’s recent first-inning performances. “You want him to get into a rhythm early. That first inning has been a bugaboo for him.”
In Sunday’s game, Gil retired the first two batters he faced but then walked JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers, which led to a two-run double by Tyler Soderstrom. Despite this, he pitched well for the rest of the game, leaving two inherited runners for Ian Hamilton in the sixth inning, both of whom scored on a double by Ryan Noda.
In his previous start against the Seattle Mariners, Gil was fortunate to escape the first inning unscathed. He hit the first batter, then got a fly out before walking the next two to load the bases. After a pop out, Mariners’ DH Victor Robles made an unusual decision to attempt stealing home, resulting in an out that ended the inning.
Gil has consistently struggled with his control in the first inning this season. Coming into Sunday’s game, batters had a .336 on-base percentage against him in the first inning, and he had issued 25 walks and hit two batters across 28 starts.
Interestingly, a breakdown of Gil’s inning-by-inning ERA reveals that the first inning is actually his best in terms of earned runs allowed. He has limited damage effectively, holding opponents to a .158 batting average and posting a 2.25 ERA in the first frame.
Now with a record of 15-6, a solid 3.27 ERA, and 166 strikeouts in 146 innings, Gil is poised to start postseason games for the Yankees. However, if he cannot improve his strike throwing in the first inning, he may struggle against the league’s top lineups.
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