Has Luis Gil Replaced Gerrit Cole as Ace of the Yankees?

The 25-year-old rookie right-hander is taking Major League Baseball by storm.

May 18, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil (81) reacts after the final out in the top of the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees couldn't possibly be any happier with Luis Gil's performance this season.

After an encouraging call-up in the 2021 season, Gil underwent Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the majority of the next two years. Fully healthy by 2024 spring training, he now had to compete with Clayton Beeter and Will Warren to earn the fifth spot in the starting rotation after a Tommy John scare to Yankees' ace Gerrit Cole.

During the spring, Gil showed that same promise from three years earlier to get the rotation spot. But with another opportunity to prove himself to the Yankees, Gil is doing much more than that: he may have replaced Cole as the ace of the staff.

In April, Gil had a 4.01 ERA largely due to shaky control; he walked 19 batters in 24.2 innings to end the month with a 1.38 WHIP. But opponents were only hitting .174 against the young right-hander, who continued to show incredible raw stuff with his pitches. Command was the only thing he needed to fix to achieve greatness, and with the help of "professor Cole", Gil has figured everything out.

This month, Gil has a 0.59 ERA, has pitched at least six innings in five straight starts (winning all of them), matched his April strikeout total (35), allowed only 10 walks, and has a 0.72 WHIP with a .117 batting average against. He is now 6-1 on the season with a 2.11 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a .143 opposing average, and 70 strikeouts against 29 walks. His 4.39 hits per nine innings is by far the best in the majors; Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres has the second best at 5.34.

Luis Gil over his last 5 games:

30.2 IP, 12 H, 35 K, 0.59 ERA 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1IxmCWLaHy

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 23, 2024

To make things even more impressive, Gil has faced three of the premier starting pitchers in the American League: Corbin Burnes on May 1, Justin Verlander on May 7, and Luis Castillo on Thursday. He allowed just one run total in each of those starts to outduel all of these aces.

Cole is expected to return in roughly a month, but the reigning AL Cy Young winner will be in a rather awkward position when he comes back. With Gil pitching on the exact same level, the Yankees would have to take someone else out of the rotation. But Nestor Cortes Jr., Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt have combined with Gil for a streak of 11 consecutive starts of 5+ innings and allowing two runs or less. There's a case for everyone currently in the rotation to stay.

The Yankees are the only team in the majors with a cumulative ERA below 3, at 2.86. They are still led by the best pitcher in the majors, but he's not a 33-year-old veteran. He's a 25-year-old rookie.