MLB | Bryan Hoch: After beginning 2026 at Triple-A with a packed house in the rotation, 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is set to make his season debut this coming week. Gil is scheduled to start today for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (his first appearances this year) and will then pitch for the Yankees on regular rest, which would mean he’ll take the ball on Friday at Tropicana Field against Tampa Bay. The Yankees took advantage of early season days off to roll with a four-man rotation temporarily.
But barring injury, that will end soon, when Gil returns to the big leagues.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Ben Rice looked like he was going to have a no good, very bad day Friday, striking out in his first three at-bats. But when the game ended, Rice had a home run, a double, and three runs batted in. Behind the paywall, Kirschner looks at Rice’s rise to stardom. One interesting, though early, note: Rice is clobbering non-fastballs so far in 2026, something that had previously been a hole in his game. With pitchers throwing him fastballs 15 percent less often thus far, he has countered by clubbing non-fastballs to the tune of a 1.351 OPS.
NJ.com: Speaking of young stars, how about Cam Schlittler. The flamethrower is coming off his second consecutive outstanding start for New York, and the voice of the Yankees has noticed. In an interview, Michael Kay reveals that it was this spring when everyone in the organization realized Schlittler looked even better than last year, which is impressive considering what Cam did to Boston in the playoffs. For his part, Kay thinks the sky is the limit.
“And if you look at this guy, if he doesn’t get hurt… this guy could be an All-Star. He’s going to be in the Cy Young conversation. He’s that good. And I don’t think that’s hyperbolic.”
MLB | Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru: Former Yankee CC Sabathia did something new on the weekend. On Friday, the Hall of Famer, with former teammate and New York native Dellin Betances in tow, took the New York City subway for the first time. CC and Dellin needed to get to the Yankees’ home opener and evidently decided the subway was the way to go. I’m guessing a bunch of Yankees fans were thrilled by the presence of the former Yankee superstars.
