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Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe’s ‘110 mph’ take on Luis Gil’s stuff that stunned Astros

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Ryan Bologna | Last updated 5/8/24

During Gerrit Cole’s absence, Luis Gil has slotted in perfectly in the New York Yankees’ rotation, and in his latest start, he dominated the Houston Astros in six innings, which prompted shortstop Anthony Volpe to comment on the reactions of the Astros’ hitters.

“It’s like the fastball is 110 mph. It’s like the hardest fastball they’ve seen,” Anthony Volpe said, via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.

Luis Gil threw six innings, giving up just one hit and one run on Kyle Tucker’s first-inning home run. Gil walked four and struck out five as well. Gil can struggle with command at times and walk a good amount of batters, but for a pitcher as young as he is, he has shown great promise this season. The stuff is great, and had the Astros hitters fooled.

Volpe himself had a good moment against the Astros as well, hitting a two-run home run to right field that extended the Yankees’ lead to 6-1. He has not been hitting as well as he did to start the year, but still overall has solid numbers on the season. Being the leadoff hitter, it is important for Volpe to succeed and get on base often, given the threat of his speed and presence on the base paths ahead of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.

The Yankees have had their hearts broken by the Astros a lot in recent years, but this season, the two teams seem to be headed in opposite directions. New York moved to 24-13 on the season with the win, while Houston dropped to 12-23. With two games left in the series, the Yankees have a chance to really put the Astros in a hole that would be tough to climb out of this season.

Will Luis Gil stay in the rotation when Gerrit Cole comes back?

Gil has been in the rotation for the Yankees this season due to Gerrit Cole’s absence. He has taken that opportunity by the horns, posting a 2.92 ERA to this point in the season. The question remains whether or not Gil will stay in the rotation after Cole comes back.

The Yankees’ rotation has been good overall, with Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt pulling their weight as well. The dilemma with Gil is that he likely will not be able to throw as many innings as the others in the rotation. He is coming off of Tommy John surgery, so it is unknown how many innings he will be able to take on this season.

While Gil is performing great, he could get relegated to the bullpen when Cole is back simply due to that. The Yankees could use another arm in the bullpen, and Gil could provide important long-relief innings in that role.

Regardless, Gil has provided more than the Yankees could have asked for when he was inserted into the rotation.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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