Yankees to start season with 4-man rotation, leaving notable odd man out

The New York Yankees have announced their starting rotation to start the 2026 season, with one notable detail: it's only four guys. And the odd man out is a notable name, too.

New York will go with a four-man rotation to start the year, in this order: Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers (via Jon Heyman). Conspicuous by his absence is Luis Gil, who won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2024. Two years later, Gil finds himself on the fringes and having to wait for his first turn, at best. Gil is struggling this spring, posting a 4.66 ERA while getting knocked around (20 hits allowed in 19 innings), although he did manage to strike out 24.

Gerrit Cole, meanwhile, is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery and the best-case scenario is he's back in June. That may create something of a competition between three pitchers for two spots at the end of the rotation, and Gil might end up on the outside looking in.

The Yankees can bide their time. As explained by Ryan Kirschner at The Athletic, the Yanks' schedule lines up in a way that allows them to delay using a fifth starter until April 11, when they're in St. Petersburg to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. So it's not a matter of overworking the four-man group while forcing Gil out. As it stands, they're buying time with Gil in the hopes that he straightens out by the time they need him to take the mound in the regular season.

Either way, it's a concerning development. Gil went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings in his Rookie of the Year season in 2024, and now could be out of the rotation entirely. With or without Gil, starting depth feels like an issue that the Yankees need to manage, at least until Cole is ready to return.