TAMPA, Fla. — The Mets unloaded four home runs on Saturday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field. They left with a 6-4 victory in spring training. But the final score only told part of the story for the Yankees, who got a pair of standout pitching performances that could shape their early-season plans.
Right-hander Luis Gil, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year, turned in 2.2 scoreless innings in his first Grapefruit League start of 2026. Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest showed off retooled stuff in relief. And Jose Caballero smashed a solo homer to remind everyone that the Yankees have options at shortstop while Anthony Volpe recovers from shoulder surgery.
The loss dropped the Yankees to 1-2 in the Grapefruit League. But wins and losses in February mean very little. What matters is what the coaching staff saw on the mound.
Mets slug four homers to overpower Yankees pitching
The Mets came to Tampa swinging. They launched four long balls against a mix of Yankees arms and controlled the game from the second inning on.
Left-handed designated hitter Jared Young opened the scoring in the top of the second. He crushed a high fastball from Gil for a solo shot to right-center field. Young appeared in 23 games for the Mets last season and belted four homers. He is expected to start 2026 in Triple-A but profiles as a bench bat option.
Catcher Luis Torrens followed with a solo blast off Winquest to lead off the fourth inning. Fellow backstop Hayden Senger kept the power surge going with another solo shot in the sixth. JT Schwartz then put the game out of reach with a three-run homer in the eighth, pushing the Mets’ lead to 6-1.
The ball was flying in Tampa. And while the Mets took full advantage, the Yankees had their own bright spots on the mound and in the batter’s box.
Gil delivers sharp outing with zero walks and four punchouts
Gil entered the spring under a cloud of uncertainty. He threw just 57 regular-season innings in 2025 after his breakout rookie campaign. His strikeout numbers dropped. His 4.63 FIP told a troubling story beneath a respectable 3.32 ERA. An uninspiring ALDS start against the Blue Jays only added to the questions.
With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both recovering from elbow surgeries, the Yankees need dependable arms. But Gil is far from guaranteed a rotation spot. According to FanGraphs’ RosterResource, he sits fifth on the depth chart behind Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and new addition Ryan Weathers.
None of that mattered Saturday. Gil retired the side in order on 11 pitches in the first inning. He threw 48 pitches across 2.2 frames, racking up four strikeouts with no walks. His fastball sat around the mid-90s. Thirty-three of his 48 pitches went for strikes.
The second inning was his toughest stretch. Young tagged him for the solo homer, and Mets hitters worked deep counts. But Gil buckled down. He punched out three batters to escape the frame and showed the kind of composure that was missing for much of 2025.
Observers at camp noted that Gil was aggressive in the strike zone, landing first-pitch strikes at a 60% clip while throwing in the zone 54% of the time. His fastball also carried about an extra inch of vertical movement compared to his 2025 averages, a sign he is getting behind the ball better to generate backspin. His changeup remained a plus pitch with good movement, and his slider showed improved depth and lateral action.
It was an encouraging debut for a pitcher who needs a strong spring to solidify his standing. Gil followed strong opening performances from top prospects Elmer Rodriguez and Carlos Lagrange in the Yankees’ first two games.
Winquest flashes retooled arsenal in relief appearance
Winquest, a Rule 5 selection hoping to earn a bullpen spot, gave up the Torrens homer but settled in after the damage. He retired the next three batters he faced to hold the Mets to a 2-1 lead through his 1.1 innings of work.
The most notable development was the shape of his pitches. His four-seam fastball averaged 16.5 inches of induced vertical break with a low release point. That combination can be dangerous at the top of the strike zone. The Yankees clearly worked on reshaping his four-seamer during the offseason, and the early returns looked promising.
Winquest also debuted a sinker that flashed nasty movement at its best, running nearly two feet on one particular pitch at 95 mph. The problem was consistency. One pitch would dart into the dirt. The next would hang over the middle of the plate at 93 mph, like the one Torrens deposited into the seats.
His fastball velocity did not reach the 96-mph range he hit in previous professional seasons. That could be chalked up to a February arm still building up. If Winquest can lock in the velocity and find more pitch-to-pitch consistency with his sinker during the Grapefruit League, he has the raw tools to stick on the 26-man roster.
Caballero, Corona provide offensive highlights for the Yankees
The Yankees’ bats were quiet for long stretches. They loaded the bases in the third inning after Caballero’s homer but failed to push across another run. They loaded them again in the fifth and came up empty. Two wasted opportunities with runners in scoring position kept the Bombers playing from behind.
Caballero’s solo shot off Mets starter Justin Hagenman in the third tied the game at 1-1. The shortstop jumped on a hanging breaking ball and drove it out. Caballero is expected to be the Opening Day starter at short with Volpe out. If he produces at the level he did after joining the Yankees during the 2025 season, he could keep the job even after Volpe returns.
The other big swing came from outfielder Kenedy Corona in the bottom of the eighth. With the Yankees trailing 6-1, Corona roped a three-run homer off reliever Brian Metoyer to pull the team within two. Corona made his big-league debut last year with the Astros, appearing in three July games. This spring marks his first camp with the Yankees after five seasons in Houston’s farm system.
Aaron Judge, coming off a two-homer performance in the prior game against the Tigers, went 0-for-1 with a groundout but drew two walks. Cody Bellinger recorded two base hits, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and walked.
Veteran Tim Hill grinds through first spring outing
Left-hander Tim Hill entered in the fifth inning for his first Grapefruit League appearance. He allowed back-to-back singles to open the frame but recovered in typical fashion. Hill induced a ground-ball double play and then got a soft liner from Mark Vientos to post a scoreless inning.
Hill’s ability to generate weak contact and get out of trouble remains a valuable asset for the Yankees’ bullpen. His fifth-inning escape was one of the more polished sequences any Yankees reliever turned in on the day.
What the outing means for the Yankees’ rotation picture
Spring training is about development, not results. The Yankees lost to the Mets, but they gained valuable information about two pitchers who could play key roles in the opening weeks of the regular season.
Gil needs to prove he can throw strikes consistently and maintain the mechanical improvements he showed Saturday. If the zero-walk trend holds up over his next few outings, the Yankees will have a much easier decision when it comes to finalizing their rotation.
Winquest needs to get his fastball velocity back and find repeatability with his sinker. The talent is there. The question is whether he can harness it over a full spring.
The Yankees travel to Bradenton on Sunday to face the Pirates. Ryan Yarbrough will take the mound as the Grapefruit League schedule rolls on.
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