Luis Gil's final spring outing could've saved his standing with Yankees in 2026

Just as it looked like some major alarm bells were ringing for Luis Gil that threatened his chance to make the New York Yankees Opening Day roster, he delivered the kind of performance that will silence even the toughest of critics.

Against the Baltimore Orioles, the right-hander threw 69 pitches over five innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. That's not the headline, though. Dating back to last season, Gil's stuff had been trending down since a lat injury delayed his start. His fastball velocity fell from 96.6 MPH in his 2024 AL Rookie of the Year campaign all the way down to 95.2 MPH. With it, his whiffs and strikeouts plummeted.

When the fastball didn't recover this spring, it seemed as if a demotion might be in order. The Yankees could have opened the season with a four-man rotation, but by April 11 they would need to add a fifth starter, and it was questionable whether a couple of extra weeks would be enough to straighten out Gil's issues.

As the 27-year-old carved up the Orioles, he emphatically answered the bell. His fastball was back, and then some, averaging 97 miles per hour. It made his other stuff play up as well, and a newly added sinker kept righties off balance. All in all, the whiffs returned on the fastball.

The Yankees had been working with Gil on his release point, and from the looks of it all his problems are solved. For now, at least.

Luis Gil's spectacular outing bodes well, but concerns about the back end of the Yankees' rotation remain

Along with Ryan Weathers, Gil figured to man the back end of New York's rotation. While both have struggled, they did so in different ways. Weathers' stuff had looked good, though his results were terrible. Gil's results weren't great, but they were better. However, until his last start, the stuff was the big concern.

The emphatic answer lessens the concern about the fourth and fifth starters, but it doesn't eliminate it altogether. Weathers is still struggling mightily. With his past inconsistencies and lengthy injury history, he's earned a healthy dose of skepticism. Gil also has some of those tendencies.

Injuries have also been a prime storyline over the course of his career, and as we saw with his performance last year, consistency isn't his strong suit. One good start is encouraging. His high-octane fastball returning is critical. You feel better today about him in the rotation than you did a couple of days ago, and the minor league demotion is likely off the table.

But to truly trust Gil, we're going to have to see this become the norm. He'll need to prove that he can keep the velocity and the sharpness of his secondaries over an extended period of time. He'll also need to show us that he can stay healthy.

We aren't out of the woods here yet, but you can start to exhale. If he can keep this up, the rotation is in decent shape even if Weathers doesn't get his act together. Reinforcements are coming from the IL at some point, and the Yankees can more than survive if they can count on four quality starters in the rotation until then. It doesn't erase the precariousness of it all, but we can at least imagine a different outcome instead of sounding alarm bells at the conclusion of spring training.