Yankees' Gil felt good after facing hitters for 1st time since spring

NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Gil faced hitters for the first time since straining his right lat in spring training, throwing about 20 pitches in a session New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone described on Saturday as "free and easy."

About two hours before the Yankees continued their three-game series with Baltimore, Gil notched four strikeouts — three swinging. Since several of the backups who would take part in live sessions were in the lineup, Gil threw to bullpen catcher Peter Serruto and information coordinator Ryan McLaughlin.

"I felt it looked really good," Boone said. "I think he was 95, 96. It looked every bit of that, looked like it. Just the metrics on the four-seam were really good and I thought he was in control of himself. So free and easy."

The Yankees are unsure of how many more times Gil will face hitters before progressing to a rehab game. Boone is hopeful the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year can return by the end of July.

"I felt really good out there," Gil said through a translator. "It's been a long process. You heal little by little. It felt good to get on the mound to face some hitters."

Gil stopped a bullpen session on Feb. 28 because of tightness in his pitching shoulder. He went to New York for a second MRI that revealed a high-grade lat strain on March 3.

Gil was shut down from throwing for at least six weeks after receiving the original diagnosis, and at the time the Yankees said he would not return until June at the earliest. On April 16, the Yankees said Gil's throwing program would be delayed for about 10 days.

"It's important. Fortunately, after the setback, it's been a slow build up, but it's gone well," Boone said. "It feels like kind of every step of the way. So that's been encouraging and now we start to build. We start to build lives, pitch counts and then eventually getting into rehab games. So definitely another important box to check."

The 26-year-old Gil went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 29 starts for the AL East champions last year, striking out 171 and walking a major league-high 77 in 151 2/3 innings. Acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a 2018 trade, Gil made a successful return from Tommy John surgery and threw eight more innings in a pair of postseason starts as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.

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