Yankees’ Flamethrower Named Baseball Digest’s AL Rookie of the Year

A breakout rookie season for Yankee pitcher Luis Gil has earned him the prestigious award from Baseball Digest.

Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (81) throws during the first inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil had a breakout rookie season, and on Thursday, he was recognized with a prestigious award.

Baseball Digest named Gil the AL Rookie of the Year for 2024, making him the third New York Yankee to win the award. Before Gil, Derek Jeter won the award in 1996 and current team Captain Aaron Judge took home the award in 2017.

The award is voted on by a panel of 11 baseball writers and broadcasters; Gil received six first-place votes to beat out runners-up Colton Cowser of the Baltimore Orioles and Mason Miller of the Oakland Athletics.

Gil’s first full year in the Bronx started when he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during spring training; he had previous seen action during the stretch run of 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in early 2022. After missing almost two entire seasons, the Yankees wanted Gil to build himself back up by logging innings in the minors.

However, the 26-year-old was immediately summoned to the big league squad for Opening Day when ace Gerrit Cole went down with an elbow injury in March. Gil went on to start 29 games for the Yankees, and went 15-7 with an impressive 3.50 ERA and 1.19 WHIP; he was so effective that he remained in the starting rotation even when Cole returned in June. Despite leading the majors with 77 walks, the hard-throwing righty accumulated 171 strikeouts across 151.2 innings, while holding opponents to a .188 batting average. Gil additionally started two games for the Yankees in the playoffs, including the team's only victory in the World Series.

Over in the National League, another superstar pitcher in the making took home the award. Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates received nine of the 11 first place votes, beating out San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill, who received the other two.

The BBWAA Rookie of the Year awards will be handed out on November 18th, 2024 at 6:00 PM EST on MLB Network; Gil is expected to be a finalist for this award as well, along with Cowser and teammate Austin Wells.