Manly lose star back to injury: Round 19 Team Talk…

Luis Gil entered today’s contest with a 14.90 ERA over his previous three starts, but right out of the gate he looked like the version that was in the All-Star conversation through the first two-and-a-half months. His fastball found the zone with much greater frequency and his slider was devastating. Unfortunately, his offense failed to show up to the park and Rafael Devers continued to make the Yankees pitchers his own personal batting cage machine, launching two more home runs to win the rubber game in the Bronx, 3-0. The Yankees haven’t won a series since June 10-13 in Kansas City.

A lot of the discussion surrounding Gil’s regression over his last three starts have centered around his four-seamer. He’s had difficulty commanding the fastball during that stretch, though the Yankees have reassured this is due to a mechanical issue rather than fatigue. Gil’s arm angle when throwing the heater has dropped with each successive poor start, which is not only causing the pitch to miss armside more frequently but also lose some of the rise that makes the pitch so elite from a movement standpoint. Indeed, Gil’s four-seamer went from a whiff rate well over 30 percent through the middle June to just 14 percent over his last three starts.

In between outings, the Yankees coaches worked with Gil on staying through and over the top of the four-seamer, and the early results were promising. Gil began Sunday night with 11-straight four-seamers averaging 98 mph and induced a fair few foul balls as the movement kept the pitch above the barrel of the bat.