For a good couple of months, Luis Gil made the New York Yankees feel like they didn’t need reigning Cy Young winner Cole. That turned out to be the beginning of a Rookie of the Year campaign.
The 26-year-old right-hander was named the winner of the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year award, becoming the 10th player to win the honor in Yankees history, the most of any team in the AL. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (18) have more in the NL.
Gil joins names such as Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter and Thurman Munson on New York’s list of winners. It wasn’t a completely even season that got him there, but it was enough to establish him as a legitimate starting pitcher going forward. He was also the starting pitcher in the Yankees’ only win in the 2024 World Series (which didn’t figure into the BBWAA voting done at the regular season).
Gil also won the award despite making his MLB debut three years earlier, throwing 29 1/3 innings in six starts in 2021. He retained his rookie eligibility because he threw fewer than 50 innings and spent fewer than 45 days on the Yankees active roster.
Luis Gil showed how you bounce back from Tommy John surgery
Gil might have competed for the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year award had he not torn his UCL that season. He was sidelined through the end of 2023, then made the Yankees’ rotation as the No. 5 starter out of spring training.
That rotation spot was only open because ace Gerrit Cole missed the start of the season with right elbow inflammation. Still, Gil took the opportunity and ran with it.
By the end of May, Gil had a 1.99 ERA, a 0.974 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings across 11 starters. Hitters were batting .135 against him. That dominance replaced Cole’s production at the top of the Yankees rotation, which was quite the story for a formerly minor prospect whom New York acquired because it DFA’d Jake Cave in 2018 and got Gil from the Minnesota Twins in a corresponding depth trade.
It looked like an outrageous swindle for the Yankees, and still looks more than one-sided now. Gil slowed down after those first two months, though, posting a 6.45 ERA in June and a 4.20 ERA in the second half. He missed 15 days later in the season with a lower back strain.
By the end of the regular season, Gil looked like a talented pitcher who struggles with control at times. He led the AL with 77 walks, but the overall package of a 151 2/3 above-average innings was still enough to make him the top candidate in the AL.
