TAMPA — The Joba Rules are dead.

The Yankees are seriously considering Luis Gil to be the fifth starter to open the season — without innings restrictions. Though he pitched four minor league innings last season after Tommy John surgery. And 134 ¹/₃ innings of affiliated pro ball since 2020. And his career-high was 96 innings in 2019.

“I think we have a better way to determine how a pitcher is progressing than just setting an arbitrary number,” pitching coach Matt Blake said.

Beginning really with Joba Chamberlain and based on some study, but mainly feel and intuition, the Yankees (and many in the industry) were limiting pitch counts and capping innings. But Blake noted all the tools that now exist to measure strength and flexibility between starts and if a pitcher is, for example, lowering his arm angle during a game, as a way to assess red flags.

Last year, for example, there was expectation that Clarke Schmidt would need to be shut down at some point. Instead, as he set by far pro highs in starts (32) and innings (159), the Yanks saw no loss of agility or strength or pitching form and just let him keep going. They believe that keeping a pitcher on a consistent usage pattern actually helps rather than fluctuating to raise then lower and back and forth what is asked of the arm.

So the guesswork days of increasing workloads 30 innings at a time or by 25 percent or whatever was the calculation is fading to modernity. And Gil has been rising to the challenge. The Yankees actually optioned him out of camp early this month. Yet, as Blake said, “He’s a very serious candidate” for the No. 5 role.

The Yankees have not dismissed the chances of Clayton Beeter or Cody Poteet from getting a spot at the bottom of the rotation that opened when the guy at the top, Gerrit Cole, was lost for at least a few months with an elbow injury. But that duo seems ticketed to join Yoendrys Gomez and Tanner Tully in the Triple-A rotation. Luke Weaver is likely going to be the long man. And the No. 5 spot comes down to Gil who allowed two runs (via a Mark Vientos homer) and whiffed five in four innings Friday and Will Warren, who followed in a 5-3 win over the Mets, with five one-run innings but no strikeouts.

It is possible that both make the club. Warren is not on the 40-man roster and does not have to be optioned. Thus, the Yankees can carry an extra pitcher for the first four games, then summon Warren to pitch the fifth. In that scenario, the Yankees have toyed with Gil assuming the Michael King hybrid relief role. But as this spring has progressed, Gil has wowed not just the Yankees but scouts who have covered the team.

Gil, 26 in June, always had a big arm, like when in six rookie starts in 2021 he had 38 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA, but also 19 walks in 29 ¹/₃ innings. Gil, the Yankees and the scouts agree the stuff is even better post-surgery, especially his changeup, but it is his increased strike throwing that has improved his stock.

As one scout who has watched him said, “He’s a solid fourth starter like this with a chance of being a No. 3. I like the fastball. The aggression. I liked a bunch of right on right changeups and when he lands his slider that is better than average too. It feels like an interesting right-hander with more to come.”

In the battle with Warren, whose assets are considered a full repertoire as opposed to any dominant offering and an unflappable demeanor, another scout said, “Gil is clearly the best option from a talent standpoint. To me it would be Gil to the rotation and Warren to Triple-A to improve his slider and be a good depth piece.”

That last part should not be ignored. In trading King, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe and Randy Vazquez for Juan Soto and dealing so much pitching inventory the last few years, the Yankees knew a spring priority was reestablishing depth to withstand the travails of a season. The revitalization of Gil in tandem with Weaver, Warren, Beeter and Poteet has encouraged the Yankees, who believe another group led by Chase Hampton and Brock Selvidge might lead a wave behind that soon.

For now, though, when it comes to the fifth spot, the Yankees might have a king of the Gil