Has Luis Gil solidified himself as a top starter amid Gerrit Cole's recovery? Exploring stats that consolidate his place in Yankees' lineup

Luis Gil was given a heads-up when Gerrit Cole went down with an elbow injury. While the reigning Cy Young winner was going to miss at least a couple of months, the New York Yankees were going to need one more starter. Among the minor league players, there was competition over who'd be named the fifth starter, and Gil was named to the Opening Day roster.

He then took that opportunity and ran with it. When Cole returns, the Yankees have a decision to make on who to move to the bullpen, but Luis Gil's performance and his statistics mean it probably won't be him.

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Luis Gil has emerged as a true ace

Luis Gil hasn't just emerged as a legitimate part of the Yankees' rotation. He has emerged as their best pitcher.

Gil has been the most valuable pitcher the Yankees have. He has 1.5 fWAR, the most on the roster ahead of Nestor Cortes Jr. (1.3 fWAR).

He has the highest K rate on the team among qualified pitchers, striking out an astonishing 31.7% of the hitters he faces. His 2.11 ERA is third-lowest among Yankees with at least 10 innings pitched. He leads all starter in that category.

Luis Gil has been the Yankees' top starter

Put simply, he's been better than Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon, and pretty much every single pitcher on the entire roster except perhaps Clay Holmes, who has pitched like the best closer in baseball.

Individually, he ranks in the 99th percentile in pitching run value per BaseballSavant. He also ranks highly in plenty of other metrics, including:

• 96th percentile in fastball run value
• 95th percentile in off-speed run value
• 95th percentile in xBA allowed
• 92nd percentile in K rate
• 93rd percentile in hard-hit percentage

He has been nothing short of a revelation, and the only thing that might stop him is a potential innings limit. Gil recovered from Tommy John surgery last year, so he hasn't had a full workload.