Struggling Yankees lose to Reds, as Luis Gil's slide from dominance continues

NEW YORK – Into June, Luis Gil was more than a placeholder for the injured Gerrit Cole.

Gil essentially became Cole, last year’s unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner, by posting an 8-1 record with a 1.82 ERA over his first 12 starts.

Now, Gil’s last five starts haven’t been so hot, and you wonder if the Yankees might eventually employ Gil as a multi-inning bullpen weapon down the stretch and into October.

Maybe that’s how it goes once Clarke Schmidt returns from a lat strain – sometime in August? – assuming the Yanks have a healthy and functioning rotation led by Cole.

For now, the Yankees need Gil to find something close to that May magic, when he was the AL Pitcher and Rookie of the Month .

Tuesday night was the third straight start that Gil didn’t make it through the fifth inning, with some command and control issues, leading to a five-run deficit against the Cincinnati Reds.

Aaron Judge smashed his MLB-leading 32nd homer of the year, but the Yankees’ comeback bid fell short in a 5-4 Reds win at Yankee Stadium.

We compare 2024 to 2022: Yankees' Aaron Judge is chasing home run history again

Luis Gil's command issues resurface

Through an interpreter, Gil said he "couldn't pinpoint exactly why'' his delivery became out of sync but vowed to "keep fighting...to turn it around.''

Over the first three innings, Gil was "feeling pretty good,'' retiring nine straight batters after a four-pitch leadoff walk until Elly De La Cruz tripled to start the fourth inning, leading to a run.

In the fifth, Gil faced three batters and hit two of them with pitches, sandwiched between a two-run homer by No. 9 hitter Will Benson off a 95-mph fastball.

According to MLB Statcast, Gil's average fastball Tuesday was at 96.6-mph, matching his seasonal average. But he induced just one swing-and-miss in 37 fastballs against Reds batters.

Now for the disclaimer that, at 89.2 innings, Gil is approaching his professional high of 96 innings in one season (2019) and that he's coming off nearly two lost seasons due to Tommy John surgery.

"I don’t think it’s a fatigue issue, I think it’s just a little-out-of-sorts issue and having trouble correcting on the fly,'' said manager Aaron Boone, feeling Gil was "kind of working underneath the ball at times'' Tuesday.

Based on the profile of his pitches, “I think he’s getting closer to being back to who he was,’’ said catcher Jose Trevino, adding that “these are just growing pains for him.’’

Luis Gil's month-long struggle to find consistency

Over his last five starts, Gil has posted an 8.85 ERA with 17 strikeouts, 14 walks and four homers allowed across 20.1 innings.

That’s as many homers as Gil allowed in his first 69.1 innings, across 12 starts, and it didn’t help his ERA - now up to 3.41 - when Caleb Ferguson entered and instantly gave up a two-run homer to De La Cruz.

Certainly, the league has a better book on Gil by now, and hitters have made adjustments in their approach.

Gil's ability to adjust back is something Boone is counting on.

“What I’ve liked is the in-between starts,’’ Boone said earlier of Gil’s attitude. “It’s no sulking. It’s ‘let’s get to work.’

"And that’s been good to see. This is still a very young pitcher in his career with a lot in front of him, and a lot to still learn and grow from.’’

Even when Gil was humming along with his fastball-changeup-slider mix, “he would get out of sync there a little bit,’’ said Boone.

“But he was just so overwhelming in the strike zone that he was getting away with it in some of those outings.’’

Based on the calendar, Gil should have two more starts before the All-Star break, including one at Baltimore; the Orioles and Yankees began Tuesday tied atop the AL East.

But “we’ll consider everything,’’ Boone said of the possibility of added rest.

Aaron Judge works his magic, but the lineup comes up short

On a comfortable night in the Bronx, a three-run Yankees rally – capped by Ben Rice’s two-run double – ended when the bottom of the Yanks’ order stranded Rice on second base.

DJ LeMahieu drove two pitches to the warning track but still went 0-for-4, and leadoff hitter Anthony Volpe (0-for-5) is in a 3-for-24 slide (.125),

"Kind of a rough week'' for Volpe, with teams "attacking him in the strike zone,'' said Boone.

Juan Soto (0-for-3, walk) did not require further tests for a bruised right hand, suffered last weekend at Toronto, which cost him one game after X-rays came back negative.

But the lineup's best threat Tuesday consisted of a four-batter sequence in the sixth, starting with a Judge (3-for-4) single.

Gleyber Torres' RBI single chased starter Graham Ashcroft, but four Reds relievers essentially stopped the Yanks after Rice's double - except for Judge's solo smash to left in the seventh.

Batting .321 with 32 homers and 83 RBI, Judge is in the Triple Crown conversation, and Rice – two weeks in to his MLB career – is in awe.

“It’s funny, I watched him on TV forever and to actually be in the same clubhouse as him, and on the field with him is really cool,’’ said Rice.

“To actually see what he’s doing right now, it’s special.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Struggling Yankees lose to Reds, as Luis Gil's slide from dominance continues