This Yankees’ injury could help the Blue Jays win the AL East

For the Toronto Blue Jays to win the seventh divisional crown in franchise history, they'll have to overcome the machine that is the New York Yankees. While the Yankees lost superstar Juan Soto in free agency, New York still looks poised to compete in the American League East thanks to a deep pitching rotation.

That pitching depth took a bit of hit this week when the Yankees announced that reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil will be out for at least six weeks.

Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer has attended 17 Spring Training in his career and made the astute observation that this time of year is dangerous for pitchers if they aren't ramping up their workloads properly. No one is accusing Gil of ramping up too quickly, but the bottom line is that the Yankees are facing their first injury crisis to a highly decorated pitcher.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to reporters and confirmed that Gil will be shut down from throwing for a least six weeks due to a high-grade lat strain. Boone understandably didn't want to speculate about an exact timeline, but it's clear the Yankees will need to find a way to cover some of the 15 11/3 innings that Gil threw last year.

Couple that with the news that Gerrit Cole is heading for further testing on his throwing elbow and all of a sudden the Yankees have a lot of chaos in their rotation. That said, they still have Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman available to cover innings.

Still, Gil was a revelation last season, as he admirably stepped up during Cole's injury-related absence at the start of last season. The Yankees will now be begging for that from a guy like Will Warren, who struggled in a brief cup of coffee at the big league level.

Gil faced the Blue Jays during the first month of the regular season last year and Toronto did a good job against him. Chris Bassitt outdueled him at the Rogers Centre in the second of those matchups, but Gil posted strong overall numbers. His 26.8 percent strikeout rate was solid even if he pitched to an elevated walk rate.

The Blue Jays were downright lucky not to have faced him during a month of May in which he posted a microscopic 0.70 ERA in six games started en route to AL Pitcher of the Month honors.

Now the Yankees' starting pitching depth is looking shaky. Fried may be durable, but he's had significant hamstring and forearm injuries over the last two seasons. Schmidt battled his own lat injury last year. Prospect Chase Hampton recently underwent Tommy John Surgery and JT Brubaker is on the shelf after breaking his ribs.

Broadly speaking, the Yankees simply lack depth all around the roster. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton and infielder DJ LeMahieu are battling nagging injuries and will likely miss the start of the season. The new-look Soto-less Yankees are an Aaron Judge-sized injury away from being extremely thin offensively. Are the Yankees really prepared to go with an Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza tandem at third base?

The Blue Jays are incredibly fortunate not to have to be dealing with any significant injuries right now. A year ago, Jays fans were fretting about an Alek Manoah injury and also had an injury scare scare from Kevin Gausman.

And it's not like the Yankees are the only team in the AL East dealing with injuries. Boston Red Sox pitchers Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford are facing a delayed start to the season. The Orioles will be crossing their fingers about pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, shortstop Gunnar Henderson and reliever Andrew Kittredge.

In any event, it will be incumbent on the Blue Jays to exploit any advantage if they are going to win the division this season. Just remember, the athletic training staff is still trying its hardest even if some players find themselves on the sidelines.