For a good couple of months, Luis Gil made the New York Yankees feel like they didn’t need reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit 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 on Monday, becoming the 10th player in Yankees history to win the honor, the most of any team in the AL. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (18) have more in MLB.
Gil edged Baltimore Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser to win for the award. He received 106 total points to 101 for Cowser. Gil garnered 15 first-place votes compared to 13 for Cowser.
Gil joins names such as Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter and Thurman Munson on New York’s list of ROY 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 end of the regular season).
Gil won the award despite making his MLB debut three years earlier, when he threw 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 that season.
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Gil might have competed for the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year award had he not torn the UCL in his right elbow that season. He was sidelined through the end of 2023, then made the Yankees’ rotation as the No. 5 starter out of spring training in 2024.
That rotation spot was open because ace Gerrit Cole missed the start of the season due to right elbow inflammation. Gil took the opportunity and ran with it.
By the end of May, he had a 1.99 ERA, a 0.974 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings across 11 starts. Hitters were batting .135 against him. That dominance helped replace 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, getting Gil from the Minnesota Twins in a corresponding depth trade.
It looked like an outrageous swindle for the Yankees then 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 of 2024. He missed 15 days later in the season due to 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 151 2/3 above-average innings was still enough to make him the top rookie in the AL.