TAMPA — The ROY is headed for an MRI.
Luis Gil had his bullpen session cut short on Friday after experiencing tightness near his right shoulder, manager Aaron Boone said.
The reigning AL Rookie of the Year will undergo an MRI exam on Saturday to find out what is wrong, but until then, a dark cloud was left hovering over the Yankees.
“He just felt tight and wasn’t able to really let it go,” Boone said before the Yankees hosted the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field. “Hopefully it’s not something too serious, but also feels like something that’s going to cost us some time.”
Gil blew past his previous career high in innings last season — after totaling 29 ²/₃ innings in the previous two years combined because of Tommy John surgery — throwing 151 ²/₃ innings with a 3.50 ERA while emerging as an integral part of the Yankees rotation.
“When a pitcher stops his bullpen, that’s concerning,” Boone said. “But I also don’t want to get too far ahead. We’ll see what we have. But anytime they pull themselves from a bullpen a couple pitches in, that’s concerning.”
Gil’s injury opens the door for Marcus Stroman to make the rotation instead of being the odd man out, as he was projected to be entering camp.
The veteran right-hander, whom the Yankees had tried to trade this offseason, insisted he was a starter (and would not pitch out of the bullpen) upon reporting to camp, which the Yankees said they were not worried about because the situation would work itself out.
Just two weeks later, it almost certainly has.
The questions now are how long this will sideline Gil for and whether the rest of the rotation can get through camp healthy.
Clarke Schmidt was briefly slowed by a cranky back last week but is set to throw live batting practice on Saturday for the first time since.
Gerrit Cole, whose elbow injury last spring was the big blow of that camp, made his Grapefruit League debut on Friday night while new addition Max Fried is scheduled to make his first start on Monday. Carlos Rodón has made two starts while Stroman will start his second on Sunday.
But the next layer of starting depth behind those five has already taken a few hits this spring, too.
Boone said Friday that right-hander JT Brubaker broke three ribs while trying to get out of the way of a comebacker in his spring debut, which will sideline him indefinitely, while prospect Chase Hampton underwent Tommy John surgery last week.
Will Warren, who has looked sharp in two outings this spring after getting knocked around in six big league outings last season, would be the next man up if there is another injury to the rotation.
The starting options behind him include veteran Carlos Carrasco, Yoendrys Gómez and Allan Winans — with Carrasco and Winans in camp as non-roster invitees.
Gil, meanwhile, has thrown three live batting practices this spring — the most recent one coming on Tuesday — but got hurt before getting into a game.
The 26-year-old said earlier in camp that he kept his offseason throwing regimen the same despite the heavy workload last season, hoping it would help him replicate his success.
At this time last year, Gil was one of the first cuts in big league camp, with the Yankees wanting him to focus on building up without any expectations in minor league camp.
But once Cole was sidelined with elbow nerve inflammation, Gil broke the door down with a strong camp and won the fifth starter job.
He was superb in the early months of the season, more than helping the Yankees survive Cole’s absence.
The only injury Gil dealt with last season was a lower back strain in August, which cost him two weeks, though the Yankees essentially used it as a breather before he headed into the stretch run.
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