There is no surprise that Gerrit Cole influenced New York Yankees rookie Luis Gil.
The 2023 Cy Young winner is a pitching savant who enjoys spending his time talking and pitching with the other hurlers on staff.
The right-hander who won the 2024 Rookie of the Year, however, said that another former Yankees pitcher had had as much of an influence on his success as well.
Gil told Scott Braun on Foul Territory that former Yankees ace Luis Severino made a huge impact on his career.
“Luis is like a big brother to me,” Gil said of Severine. “He’s always checking in, watching my outings, and giving me tips. After my starts, we’d talk about what I was doing wrong and what adjustments I needed to make.”
Gil initially burst onto the scene in 2021, flashing huge potential with a 15-inning scoreless streak to start his major league career that spanned his first three big league starts.
He suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his first start of 2022 and missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
This year, Gil returned to dominating. He went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA over 31 starts. He struck out 171 and walked just 77 over 151.2 innings pitched.
He was the first Yankees pitcher to win the American League Rookie of the Year since Dave Righetti in 1981. Aaron Judge in 2017 was the last Yankee to win the award before Gil.
Gil also talked about Cole’s influence.
“Gerrit has been a great influence on me,” Gil said through an interpreter. “He has taught me a lot about handling situations and emotions on the mound, as well as attacking hitters. I hope to keep learning from Gerrit in the future.”
