On a Clearwater, Fla., field in March, Aaron Boone looked around the visiting dugout as Luis Gil buzzed through a representative Phillies lineup.
“I kept turning, like, anyone else seeing this?” the Yankees manager said this spring.
After Gil won a job in camp and was often dominant during the season, he has earned the sport’s attention.
The right-hander became the first Yankees pitcher to win AL Rookie of the Year since Dave Righetti in 1981, and the first Yankees player since Aaron Judge in 2017, beating out Baltimore’s Colton Cowser (who finished second in a tight race) and teammate Austin Wells (third) in voting that was announced Monday night.
Gil, who tallied two more first-place votes but was listed on one fewer ballot, edged Cowser by five points in what was the second-closest election for the award since 1980. The only one closer: the Royals’ Angel Berroa over the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui by four points in 2003.
Luis Gil’s rise to the Yankees rotation was capped off with AL Rookie of the Year honors. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Gil came out of nowhere to first win a spot in the club’s rotation, then rose into the early Cy Young conversation and eventually settled in as officially the best rookie in the league.
“The mindset was really: Focus on doing my job on the field and trying to help the team as much as possible,” Gil said through interpreter Marlon Abreu in looking back at a spring training in which he technically was optioned out of major league camp — but his performance essentially negated that cut.
“[H]e absolutely kicked in the door this spring and went on to have a phenomenal rookie season,” Boone said in a statement. “Luis continued to mature and develop all year and was one of the pillars of our rotation. I can’t wait to see what’s next for such a talented, young pitcher.”
In his first full season after 2022 Tommy John surgery, Gil finished with a 3.50 ERA over 151 ²/₃ innings in 29 starts.
The Yankees needed a starter in the wake of Gerrit Cole’s injury, and for several months they uncovered an ace.
The 26-year-old was not always accurate but just about always was nasty, owning a 2.03 ERA through 14 starts. He fluctuated over the back end of the season, with a 5.15 ERA in his final 15 regular-season starts, which was understandable for a pitcher whose career high in innings had been 108 ²/₃ in the minors in 2021.
The Dominican finished with 171 strikeouts, the second-most ever by a Yankees rookie (trailing only Ross Ford’s 209 in 1910).
Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil #81 throws a pitch during World Series. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The stunning emergence of Gil, while welcome to the club, was too far-fetched to net the Yankees an additional draft pick.
Because he was nowhere to be found on preseason top-100 prospect lists, Gil did not qualify for the Prospect Promotion Incentive — a sweetener that promises teams an additional draft pick if they give a prolonged, major league chance to their top prospects. Gil effectively did not qualify as a top prospect.
If Wells — who was on several top-100 lists entering this season — had won the award, the Yankees would have landed an extra pick in next year’s draft.
Wells finished third after a breakout season in which he seized the lion’s share of starts at catcher from Jose Trevino and rose to become Aaron Judge’s lineup protection at cleanup.
At the plate, the 25-year-old finished with an above-average .718 OPS with 13 home runs in 414 plate appearances. Defensively, Wells finished with the third-best pitch-framing numbers in the game while holding base runners better than Trevino.
Wells, like Gil, faded late in the season in what was the longest campaign of his life.
Cowser finished with a solid .768 OPS and 24 home runs in 153 games with the Orioles, the best rookie in an organization teeming with young talent. But it was Gil who came out on top after an electric if sometimes erratic season. He issued a major league-high 77 walks and plans to clean that up for next season.
“For me, it has to do with control and command,” Gil said of areas he will work on this offseason. “I think that’s really what I want to take the next step in my career. Given the opportunity to pitch, I think it’s something that I can keep improving as I keep growing as a pitcher.”
Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (81) throws a pitch during the second inning when the New York Yankees played the Cleveland Indians Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The Yankees signed 31-year-old infielder Pablo Reyes to a minor league deal. He owns a career .658 OPS with 13 steals in 234 major league games, all but one with the Red Sox. Reyes spent most of last season in the Mets organization and appeared in one MLB game with the Mets.
Skenes named NL’s top rookie
Hard-throwing Pirates ace Paul Skenes capped a remarkable season by winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Skenes didn’t make his big league debut until May 11, but the right-hander was such an immediate sensation that he was selected to start the All-Star Game for the NL. He beat outfielders Jackson Merrill of the Padres and Jackson Chourio of the Brewers.
The 22-year-old Skenes, the first pick in the 2023 amateur draft, finished 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts. He struck out 170 and walked 32 in 133 innings.
He received 23 first-place votes for 136 points while Merrill had seven firsts and 104 points. They were listed on all ballots. Chourio had 26 points.
— With AP