Luis Gil exits Yankees start with worrisome injury

The New York Yankees rookie starting pitcher, Luis Gil, left his most recent start on Tuesday night early. The Yankees announced that the injury was low back tightness, but that's really all we know as of now.

The game began in typical Gil fashion, walking Steven Kwan to lead the contest off. He looked fine after that, putting down the next three Guardians in order. But as the game pushed on, the walks piled up and Gil just didn't look like himself. Velocity was there, but he had walked six hitters before he left the game with the injury in the fourth injury.

It definitely looks like it was something that was impacting him for his entire Tuesday start and this is just the worst possible outcome for Aaron Boone and the Yankees.

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Luis Gil injury could bury the Yankees in the AL East race

As many know, the Yankees are in a tight division race with the Baltimore Orioles. If New York finishes the year strong, not only could they win the division, but they could hold the best record in baseball.

Depending on the severity of the injury, the Yankees could be without Gil, who many would argue has been one of their most consistent pitchers this season, for multiple weeks.

Will Warren, the top prospect that would likely come up to replace Gil if he lands on the IL, has struggled in the big leagues. Warren was just sent down last week after three starts with the big league club, but if Gil has to miss extended time, New York could opt to go with him again.

We're a few weeks away from rosters expanding anyway, which would likely result in Warren coming back up to the big leagues.

But this Gil injury is just such a worrisome injury for New York. They're so closely contested with the Orioles at this point and any sort of slip could result in Baltimore flying past them.

I'm speculating here, but lower back injuries tend to nag on for quite some time. History tells me that if this is anything more than just the reported "tightness" that Gil will miss multiple weeks and multiple starts. Again, speculation here.

Yankees fans should continue to hope for the best-case scenario, but prepare for the worst-case scenario. This injury could hurt them a ton down the stretch.