Yankees' Gil edges out Cowser for AL Rookie of the Year

New York Yankees right-hander Luis Gil was named the American League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Gil received 15 first-place votes to finish ahead of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser by five points.

It was the second-closest finish in AL ROY history.

Gil is the first Yankees pitcher to win Rookie of the Year since Dave Righetti in 1981 after authoring a 15-7 record with a 3.50 ERA and 10.1 K/9 across 29 starts. He's the 10th Yankees player to claim the honor and the first since Aaron Judge in 2017.

"It means so much to me," Gil said on MLB Network via an interpreter.

He added, "When you come up as a rookie player, first of all, your dream is to make it to the big leagues, but once you get there, you want to contribute, you want to do your job."

The 26-year-old had five starts where he allowed one hit this season, tying for the most by a rookie since 1893, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

"Congratulations to Luis on an amazing season. He worked so hard to put himself in a strong position heading into spring training after coming back from Tommy John surgery," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

"Without a guarantee of a major-league spot, he absolutely kicked in the door this spring and went on to have a phenomenal rookie season. Luis continued to mature and develop all year and was one of the pillars of our rotation. I can't wait to see what's next for such a talented, young pitcher."

The Yankees don't receive a prospect promotion incentive pick in next year's draft because Gil pitched in 2021 and 2022.