THE RIDDLE OF SEVY
Luis to stay on course as Yanks try to figure out what’s wrong
After Luis Severino battled Jacob DeGrom, we know who is the best pitcher in New York. But we still don’t know who would be the best option for the Yankees in a Wild Card game.
Severino was bombed again Monday night, this time by the Mets, allowing four runs in just four innings of an 8-5 defeat. It was Severino’s shortest outing of the season, and it started with a leadoff home run from Amed Rosario.
The 24-year-old said his struggles have nothing to do with fatigue and he has no interest in skipping his next start. Still, the Mets were reading his slider well and two scouts believe Severino is tipping that pitch.
“We got to help him get to the bottom of it,” Aaron Boone said. “Physically, I think he’s sound. But we got to get this righted and that’s on all of us because he’s that important. He’s so dynamic when he’s right.”
Severino had been the ace for most of the season but that title is up for grabs with the way he’s pitching. He has allowed 30 runs over 36.1 innings in his last seven starts for a 7.43 ERA. That’s five more earned runs than Severino allowed in his first 118.1 innings this season, when he was cruising to his second All-Star appearance.
Maybe it’s the heat or exhaustion. But neither Boone nor Severino was conceding fatigue. Boone said there are no plans to have Severino skip a start.
“I’m definitely not tired,” Severino said. “I’ve been through this in the past.”
Catcher Austin Romine said the velocity was fine with Severino’s fastball, but he left some up over the plate and the Mets hit those into the seats.
“Well he’s still our guy, he’s still the guy we lean to, he’s still the guy we want out there in big situations. Guys go through this, seen it before,” Romine said. “If there was a big dip in velocity or something like that, I think I’d be worried, but I see a guy going out there throwing heaters and throwing his sliders, I think if we could get a little more execution we’d be good.”
Entering mid-August with 44 games remaining, it’s unclear who represents the Yankees’ best option for a one-game playoff. Masahiro Tanaka has mostly been solid since July, but he was also shellacked in his last start against the Rangers. CC Sabathia, coming off his best start of the season Sunday, left that performance with inflammation in his knee and a day later was placed on the DL.
As a result, the Yankees are calling up Luis Cessa from Triple-A Scranton to start Wednesday and pushing Tanaka’s next start to Thursday. J.A. Happ will start tonight against the Rays.
Happ and Lance Lynn, both originally brought in as insurance, are suddenly the Yanks’ most reliable starters.
On Monday, the hapless Mets – who entered the game with the worst batting average in the majors – connected on five homers – including two off Severino. The Mets had 15 hits total, with every player in their lineup getting at least one.