The Yankees will opt for the arm with rest rather than the arm with the reputation.
Luis Gil, whose arm surely is fresh, will pitch Game 4 rather than bringing back Gerrit Cole on short rest.
Cole pitched six-plus, one-run innings in Friday’s Game 1 loss in Los Angeles.
He was not overly taxed by pitch count at least, finishing at 88, but will not be an option to return on three days rest.
The idea of the club’s ace attempting to start three games in the series did not warrant much of a conversation, manager Aaron Boone said, after Cole built up too quickly during spring training and was diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema that pushed his season debut into mid-June.
Coming back on short rest is “not something I want to do with Gerrit this year, with what he’s been through,” Boone said before Monday’s Game 3 of the World Series against the Dodgers.
So Cole will hope to pitch Game 5 on regular rest Wednesday, with the rookie Gil getting the ball for the largest game of his life and just his second game in the past month.
Gil finished his regular season on Sept. 28 and then made his playoff debut on 19 days rest, for Game 4 of the ALCS in Cleveland.
He pitched adequately, and better than that considering the circumstances — allowing two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings in a win — and now will get the ball on 10 days rest.
He has been throwing side sessions and the occasional simulated game in between and hopes he has been able to approximate his usual workload.
“I think it has been key to the way you prepare and practice, staying as close as you can to the routine we had throughout the year,” Gil said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “So just working hard and trying to stay as sharp as you can and really just looking forward to [Tuesday].
“Hopefully everything is going to be good for us.”
Gil had an undoubtedly good regular season, which will wind up with American League Rookie of the Year votes, but one that started in a very different place than it finished.
Gil was electric in spring and emerged in light of Cole’s injury to grab a rotation spot out of camp. He was dominant, if occasionally wild, through mid-June, when he looked like a Cy Young candidate.
But a righty in his first full season off of Tommy John surgery — and who had maxed out at 108 ²/₃ innings, back in 2021, before surging past 150 this year — showed signs of tiring.
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In five July starts (in which he pitched to a 3.33 ERA), his four-seamer averaged 97.5 mph. In five September starts (in which he pitched to a 4.00 ERA), that fastball averaged 95.6 mph.
His control wavered, too, which looms as particularly significant against a Dodgers club that does not chase pitches outside the strike zone and will force Gil to hit his spots.
Maybe the time off will help an arm that could use the breather. Maybe the time off will hurt the routine of a pitcher who could be rusty.
What is clear to Gil: “I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to be like a dream come true,” the 26-year-old said ahead of his World Series debut. “Just being out there and taking action, I think it’s going to be incredible.”