Luis Gil has had a strong first full season in the New York Yankees’ starting rotation. However, even after contributing to a 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics, manager Aaron Boone expressed concerns about Gil’s first-inning difficulties.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Boone said when asked about Gil’s struggles in the opening inning during his last two starts. “You know, want him to get in that rhythm, obviously, early. That first inning the last few [starts], like you said, has been a bugaboo for him.”
In the recent game, after retiring the first two A’s batters, Gil walked JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers, which led to a two-run double by Tyler Soderstrom. He performed well afterward, leaving two inherited runners to Ian Hamilton in the sixth, who allowed them to score on a double by Ryan Noda.
In his previous outing against the Seattle Mariners, Gil narrowly escaped the first inning. He hit the leadoff batter, then got a fly ball out but walked two more, loading the bases. A pop-out followed, and then Mariners’ DH Victor Robles made a surprising attempt to steal home and was thrown out, ending the threat.
Gil has had difficulty locating his pitches in the first inning all season, with a .336 OBP against him in that frame. He has issued 25 walks and hit two batters in his 28 starts.
Interestingly, a breakdown of Gil’s ERA by inning shows that the first inning is actually his best regarding earned runs allowed. He has limited damage effectively, holding opponents to a .158 average and posting a 2.25 ERA in the first inning.
Now 15-6 with an impressive 3.27 ERA and 166 strikeouts over 146 innings, Gil is poised to start in the postseason for the Yankees. However, if he doesn’t improve his strike-throwing in the first inning, he might struggle against stronger lineups.
