1. Allowing Luis Gil to start against the Astros was very much a wave-the-white-flag, eat-some-innings game. After fooling some with his performance at Fenway Park on Monday, all of the underlying numbers suggested Gil would get blasted by an offense that doesn’t have the worst team OPS in the American League. Sure enough, the Astros teed off on him and ended the Yankees’ eight-game winning streak.
2. Immediately after allowing eight baserunners, six earned runs and two home runs in just four innings (without recording a strikeout), Gil was sent back to Triple-A with a 6.05 ERA, diminished velocity and no way to get major-league hitters out unless their high-exit-velocity line drives are hit right at a fielder. For the fourth straight start, Gil had no clue where the ball was going when it left his hand and for the second straight start he only generated three whiffs.
3. “He struggled to get swing-and-miss again,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s just been struggling to get consistency with his delivery and fastball profile.”
And yet, the Yankees let him start four games this season. In the four-game stint, Gil allowed six home runs in 19 1/3 innings with 11 walks to just nine strikeouts. The Yankees managed to go 2-2 in the four starts because of their miracle walk-off win against the Angels built off a dropped pop-up and because Gil got to face a team that fired their entire dugout staff, partly because they were unable to hit him.
4. I don’t know what’s next for Gil. The pitcher we saw in 2024 seemed to have disappeared when he returned from the lat injury at the end of 2025, and the pitcher he is in 2026 is nowhere close to who he was last year, let alone two years ago. He’s buried on the starting pitching depth chart now and will be further buried when Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole return. And if the Yankees need a spot starter or a rotation member at some point this season, it would be appalling if it’s him with his current stuff.
5. Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough ate up the final four innings in a blah game that saw the offense fold against the only good starter in the Astros’ rotation. Trent Grisham and Ben Rice went 0-for-7 with a walk at the top of the order, Aaron Judge failed to get the big hit in the third inning with two on and two out but did manage to hit a meaningless home run down seven runs in the sixth, Cody Bellinger went 0-for-4, Jazz Chisholm went 2-for-4 and lost another ridiculous challenge, Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles to ensure he won’t be the odd man out when a roster spot is needed, J.C. Escarra went 1-for-4 with an RBI double, Ryan McMahon went 1-for-4 with an RBI single and Jose Caballero went 0-for-3. It was one of those all-around crappy games that’s part of a 162-game season.
6. Chisholm’s challenge privileges need to be revoked as he’s now 1-for-7 this year with them. Caballero’s privileges should be called into question as well and Rice isn’t too far behind. Offensively, the Yankees challenge pitches in extremely low-leverage situations and it needs to be resolved. Too many times they are challenging pitches that are blatant strikes and too many times they are wasting their challenges in the early innings in ill-advised spots.
7. Jasson Dominguez was called up after the game, presumably to be the designated hitter the next three days against the Rangers and three right-handed starters. Dominguez has hit .326/.415/.478 at Triple-A with five doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs in 24 games. He has an .889 OPS over 77 games and three different seasons at Triple-A. There’s nothing left for him to accomplish in the minors offensively. He’s a major leaguer and will once again be one on Monday night against the Rangers.
8. The Yankees will face Jack Leiter, who has struggled of late. After two strong starts against the Orioles and Reds to begin the season (11 IP, 3 ER, 17 K), Leiter has pitched to a 6.91 ERA over his last three starts against the Dodgers, Athletics and Pirates, allowing 27 baserunners in 14 1/3 innings. Like Arrighetti on Sunday, Leiter has a penchant for walks, and the Yankees will need to take advantage of that, which they didn’t do in the series finale in Houston with just one walk in the game.
9. Max Fried gets the ball for the Yankees, coming off his eight-shutout-innings performance against the Red Sox. The Rangers aren’t very good offensively (fourth-worst team OPS in the AL), and like the Yankees, they have a very top-heavy lineup. Fortunately, for Fried, the Rangers’ best hitters are left-handed in Corey Seager and Brandon Nimmo, but Josh Jung and Jake Burger are potential problems.
10. We’re still waiting to see the best version of Fried this year, which is crazy to think, considering he’s the league leader in innings pitched, has a 2.40 ERA and a sparkling 0.774 WHIP, but it’s true. Fried has struggled with his command, especially out of the windup, and prior to shutting down the Red Sox (which is no real feat given Gil shut them out for 6 1/3 innings), the Yankees had lost his three previous starts. I expect Fried to pitch well on Monday because I always expect him to pitch well and because he’s too good not to make the necessary adjustments that have him somewhat off this season.
Last modified: Apr 27, 2026
