9-28-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Showdown today between front-runners for Rookie of the Year in both leagues as Paul Skenes and the Pirates face the Yankees and their rookie starter, Luis Gil.
Gil has posted a strong first full season in the big leagues with a 15-6 record and 3.27 ERA over 146 inning with 166 strikeouts and 76 walks.
After making a handful of appearances with the team between, 2021-22, Gil went down with injury to his right forearm and underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2022.
While Gil has been having a solid season overall, it is heavily weighted by a strong start to the year. From May 1 to June 4, Gil made 7 starts of 6+ innings allowing 0 or 1 run in each outing, compiling a 0.61 ERA over 44.2 innings in that span. Outside of that, he has a 4.45 ERA over his other 21 outings this season.
Looking at his arsenal, the 26-year old has a three-pitch including a high-90s 4-seam that can touch 100 – which he throws about half the time – paired with a high-80s slider and low-90s changeup, which both have plus movement and results.
He works the fastball up in the zone while dropping the slider down/arm-side with the changeup running glove-side of the plate.
All three pitches have provided positive results but the secondaries have been a major part of his success as his slider has generated a 31.6% whiff rate while his changeup has opponents batting just .164 against the offering with a 53% ground-ball rate.
Bucs batters will want to look for the elevated fastballs and be ready for the hard heat to avoid looking foolish chasing breaking stuff down off the plate.
He has a tendency to get a bit wild with 3+ free passes issued in 14 of his 28 starts this season.
Work counts, take walks and be ready to time up the heat when he works back into the zone.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 