Gil named AL's top rookie by Baseball Digest

5:25 PM UTC

NEW YORK – Yankees right-hander has been selected as Baseball Digest’s 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, the publication announced on Thursday.

Gil finished ahead of the Orioles’ Colton Cowser and the Athletics’ Mason Miller in the AL voting, which was comprised of an 11-person panel of baseball writers and broadcasters. The Pirates’ Paul Skenes was selected as Baseball Digest’s NL Rookie of the Year.

The BBWAA Rookie of the Year Award winners will be announced on Nov. 18.

Asked in late September what it would mean to be selected as a Rookie of the Year, Gil said through an interpreter: “It would be a blessing, just understanding where I come from. I come from a small town [Azua, Dominican Republic]. It would mean a lot to me, mean a lot for my people back home and for us as an organization.”

The 26-year-old Gil posted a 15-7 record with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 29 starts for the Yankees this past season, having made his first career Opening Day roster. Gil permitted three or fewer runs in 22 of his 29 starts, two or fewer runs in 18 and one or zero runs in 17.

Gil’s 17 starts of one or zero runs allowed in 2024 were tied with Tarik Skubal of the Tigers and Garrett Crochet of the White Sox for the most such starts in the Majors.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gil’s 17 such starts were the second most in Major League history by any rookie pitcher in a single season (since the current mound distance was set in 1893 and excluding openers). He ranks behind only George McQuillan's 21 such starts for the 1908 Philadelphia Phillies.

Gil’s 171 strikeouts in 2024 were the second most by a Yankees rookie in a single season in franchise history, behind only Russ Ford's 209 in 1910. Gil is the third Yankees player to be named AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest, joining Derek Jeter (1996) and Aaron Judge (2017).