Former AL Rookie of the Year demoted to minors

Less than two years after winning American League Rookie of the Year honors, New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil will be starting the 2026 season in the minor leagues.

Gil will be optioned to Triple-A after failing to earn a spot in the Yankees’ starting rotation. The Yankees will only use a four-man rotation to open the season, leaving the former Rookie of the Year without a role.

Manager Aaron Boone admitted that Gil was “a little upset” about the decision, but the Yankees want to keep him on a starter schedule, and the best way to do that is to send him to the minors instead of having him sit in the MLB bullpen.

“I think he was a little upset about it, but I feel like he's in a good frame of mind right now,” Boone said, per MLB.com's Patrick Brown. “It's a guy in the physical prime of his career, and like the measurable numbers, like the physical evaluations that strength and conditioning does, he's in the best physical place he's ever been in his life.

“He's as strong as he's ever been, and we feel like that's going to translate, hopefully, based on what we saw in his last outing.”

Gil won AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, when he went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 151.2 innings. He was unable to build on his rookie campaign, as he was shut down during spring training with a lat strain and did not make his season debut until August. He posted a 3.32 ERA in 11 starts after returning, but his strikeout numbers were way down and he walked 33 batters in 57 innings.

Gil’s issues continued in spring training, as he posted a 4.66 ERA in six appearances. That likely cost him a spot in the rotation, but the team will need a fifth starter at some point, and it will likely be him if he pitches well in the minors to start the new season.