Yankees make bold pitching promotion to save bullpen after Red Sox doubleheader

Brian Cashman's summer neglect of the bullpen has left the Yankees with a rotating door in their Reliever No. 4 spot. It was Angel Chivilli for a moment before he went down with elbow pain. It became Kervin Castro, who succumbed to a far worse injury and recently hit the 60-Day IL. For the past few weeks, it's somehow been Yerry de los Santos. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Yankees' doubleheader with the Red Sox on Saturday forced them to use de los Santos not once, but twice. If they hadn't split, it would've been an absolute nightmare. But they did. So it was only a moderate nightmare.

Sunday's game - Will Warren vs. Ranger Suarez - looks like a mismatch on paper, and it's for control of the tiebreaker between the two clubs. Tack on a depleted bullpen (save for David Bednar) and it was tough to envision a Yankees path to victory. Enter ... Luis Gil, who's making his triumphant return to the MLB roster ahead of Clarke Schmidt in a tryout for a potential October role.

Schmidt appeared with the Double-A Somerset Patriots on Saturday evening, and Gil's next appearance will be his first at the MLB level since his ill-fated turns through the rotation (except against Boston!) back in April.

Yankees pick perfect team for potential Luis Gil bullpen debut in Red Sox finale

If there's one team he feels comfortable facing, it's this one - he somehow sports an 0.80 ERA against them in his career, and even defeated them at Fenway Park this April in his depleted state.

Around Gil in the 'pen will be Bednar for the ninth and ... likely Tim Hill and recent call-up Michael Fulmer. It's not much, but it's a living. The Yankees used up Ryan Yarbrough on Saturday, returned Brendan Beck as the 27th man, and DFA'd Justin Topa after he soaked up some frames in the opener.

Gil's been all about emphasizing his fastball in his Triple-A tuneups, and they've been solid, to the tune of a 3.00 ERA in nine innings. Plus side? 12 K's. Down side? Seven walks.

We've seen the best and worst of Gil before. On Sunday, we may just need to see the most of him, and de los Santos can return to claim the RP4 throne in 10 days' time.

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