Luis Gil has had an impressive first full year in the New York Yankees’ starting rotation. However, despite contributing to the Yankees’ 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, his manager has expressed concern about one aspect of his performance: his struggles in the first inning.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Aaron Boone acknowledged (according to YES Network) when asked about his worries regarding Gil’s opening inning issues in recent starts. “You want him to find that rhythm early. That first inning in the last few starts has been a problem for him.”
In Sunday’s game, after retiring the first two batters he faced, Gil walked JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers, leading to a two-run double by Tyler Soderstrom. He performed well for the remainder of the game, leaving two inherited runners for Ian Hamilton in the sixth inning, who then allowed them to score on a double by Ryan Noda.
In his previous outing against the Seattle Mariners, Gil was fortunate to escape the first inning without allowing any runs. He hit the first batter, recorded a fly-out, and then walked the next two to load the bases. After a pop-out, Mariners’ designated hitter Victor Robles made an unusual decision to attempt stealing home and was caught, ending the inning.
Gil has had difficulty finding the strike zone in the first inning throughout the season. Prior to Sunday’s game, batters had a .336 on-base percentage against him in the first inning, and he had issued 25 walks and hit two batters across his first frames in 28 starts.
Nonetheless, a breakdown of Gil’s inning-by-inning ERA for the season reveals that the first inning is actually his best in terms of earned runs allowed. He has been effective at limiting damage overall, holding opposing hitters to a .158 average and recording a 2.25 ERA in the first frame.
Now with a record of 15-6, an impressive 3.27 ERA, and 166 strikeouts in 146 innings, Gil is poised to start postseason games for the Yankees. However, if he cannot improve his strike-throwing in the first inning, he may struggle to contain the stronger lineups in the league.
