The New York Yankees’ bid on Luis Gil continues to pay off. Even though the firebreathing pitcher didn’t have a perfect game last night, he still managed to outpitch a Cy Young winner. In a matchup that most believed would be an easy win for Justin Verlander – Gil managed to impress even when things didn’t go his way initially. However, the interesting part is that the Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole also played a role in improving Gil’s performance. 

Things looked tough for Gil after the first inning. The pitcher gave away a one-run homer to Kyle Tucker. Add to that his slightly wayward pitching – there was a moment of genuine nervousness within the Yankees staff. However, from the second inning, Gil managed to gain some level of control over his pitches. Now as he has revealed in his postgame interview – that control came due to a “group effort.”

Gil revealed that just playing against a player like Justin Verlander was a huge motivational force. “When you have an opportunity to face guys like that – that are some of the best pitchers in the world, you’ve gotta see it as motivation to go out there and execute the plan that you have,” Luis Gil said in his postgame interview. “But it’s a total group effort here. You talk about Gerrit Cole giving me pointers in between innings, along with our pitching coach Matt Blake, and it’s great to have that kind of support around you.”

However, Gil did say that in the end he only focuses on himself. Despite who is playing against him, as long Gil’s plans work – that’s all that matters to him. However, one can imagine how surreal it must be to pitch against a Cy Young winner and take advice from another Cy Young winner simultaneously. 

However, everything is working right for Gil. As the skipper Aaron Boone noted – there’s a huge ceiling to Gil and the pitcher is just getting started. 

New York Yankees skipper’s huge praises for Luis Gil 

Aaron Boone noted how wide Gil’s arsenal is during his postgame conference. The skipper agreed that it wasn’t his best game but the way Gil managed to bounce back was a confidence-inducing moment. “His stuff is so good, his changeup was really good tonight. His fastball was obviously really good for him. So to be able to go out and give us six really good innings. Again, on a night it wasn’t necessarily all clicking even for him. It just speaks to how capable he is,” Boone said.

So it seems the Yankees clubhouse is extremely high on Gil. The fact that none of this would’ve been possible without Gerrit Cole’s injury is the bittersweet part of this story. However, despite not being on the field, Cole is making sure his contribution to the Yankees’ run remains high. That’s an inspiring thing to do but also shows just how high his impact runs in the Bronx Clubhouse.