Luis Gil will make his first start at Busch Stadium on Friday when the Yankees begin a three-game series with the Cardinals. He once imagined it could be his home ballpark.

Before the flame-throwing right-hander, born in the Dominican city of Azua, signed his first professional contract with the Twins or was traded to the Yankees, a 16-year-old Gil received significant interest from Rodny Jimenez. A Cardinals area scout in the Dominican Republic, Jimenez had been a minor league pitcher in the Braves organization and recognized Gil’s burgeoning arm talent right away.

“He advocated and felt strongly about Luis’ potential,” Moisés Rodríguez, the Cardinals’ assistant general manager of major league operations and international scouting , told the Daily News this week over email.

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