The Yankees make so many good plays in the game.
And if we had unlimited space, we’d share it all with you: Gleyber Torres is steadily improving his hitting game in Gleyber Torres fashion, and on Tuesday night he hit a home run.
Anthony Volpe’s maturity at the plate flashed again, surviving an 0-2 deficit to 2-2 when he blocked a nice slider from Bailey Ober before singled to right field. Aaron Judge followed shortly after with a two-run double in the third inning, making Volpe and Judge the first teammates to reach base in 30 consecutive games together since Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones of the Braves in 2003.
Giancarlo Stanton nearly homered, fair and foul, in his first three at-bats, but was ruined by a two-run homer in the eighth. He’s basically an afterthought on this team. An afterthought after hitting 15 homers.
The defense was third in Defensive Runs Saved, but was flawless as usual. Ian Hamilton and Luke Weaver were dominant in relief with 1-2-3 innings. The Yankees beat the Twins 5-1 for their sixth straight win. I could tell you all of this and more as the Yankees finished 43-19.
But how can we ignore the fact that Luis Gil is now up against Christy Mathewson, who has a magical pitching season that makes us wonder if a third “G” could be on the way alongside Guidry and Gooden?
Forget about the runs. Gil has basically stopped allowing hits. Minnesota allowed just one hit in six innings against Yankees right-handers, but that was because Juan Soto faced No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez, a .165 hitter as a Little League reserve, and the ball went over his head. Of course, Vazquez didn’t score. Another thing Gil does is to play Iron Curtain with runners on base.
“He’s hard to hit off of,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He pitches really well.”
Gill initially garnered positive reviews from teammates and scouts in the spring, but who would have expected this? Gill has started 12 times, allowing three hits or fewer in 10 of those starts. Gill has started seven straight times, pitched at least six innings and allowed one or no runs. Want to know how many times this has been accomplished in Yankees history? The answer is zero. The last time it was done was seven in a row by Yu Darvish in 2020. As the great Sarah Langs pointed out, only four rookies have ever done seven in a row. The first was eight in a row by Mathewson in 1901.
Gill leads the AL with a 1.82 ERA. Opponents batting average is MLB-best at .129. The next best qualified player is Suarez of the Philadelphia Rangers at .167. And Boone said he “didn’t think it was overwhelming” against Minnesota. But what’s surprising is that Gill now has a veteran sheen. He doesn’t seem fazed by any of this. His dominance comes with a routine. He’s calm even without elite power or tense moments. The Twins failed to get a hit in six at-bats with runners on base, and opponents are 7-for-76 (.092) in those situations. Both attempts to get in scoring position were unsuccessful, leaving them 2-for-34 (.059) against Gill this year.
Remember, Gill missed most of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He was filling in for Gerrit Cole. And if the Yankees needed any other positive signs this season, Cole made his first rehab start since returning from nerve damage in his elbow, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings, 45 pitches, at Double-A on Tuesday. Cole told me recently that he wants to pitch around 45 pitches in the first innings, with his performance up and down. That way, if he can throw, say, 60 pitches over his next two starts and 75 pitches after that, he might be able to cut down on the number of rehab starts. Maybe he could return before his fourth start.
And what happens after that? With Judge and Soto dominating the Yankees’ lineup, can they add Cole and Gill to the rotation? With the rotation’s combined ERA currently at 2.73 and Cole’s 2.63 ERA last year winning the Cy Young Award, it’s hard to imagine this group doing much better.
And it’s questionable whether midnight will come for Gill, who has thrown 69 1/3 innings. He would have done his job all season, simply bridging the gap competently until Cole returned. But he was Cole, arguably the best pitcher in the sport. He doesn’t look tired. He just looks like he’s getting better and better.
So much has gone right for the Yankees this season, it’s been magical. There’s so much to write about and talk about, but it’s hard not to start with this unexpected talent. This man who was on par with Gerritt, Guidry and Gooden has now joined Mathewson as the King of the Gil.
