Severino’s right where he belongs
This is the role the Yankees envisioned for Luis Severino back in February. They gave him a contract extension imagining the 25-year-old being the ace of this staff. They projected it would be Severino they would give the ball to in a critical Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, like they will today in the Bronx.
Obviously it didn’t work out exactly as the Yankees or Severino expected this year. The right-hander went through shoulder and lat injuries and missed 159 games, but here he is, ready to start Game 3 with the best-of-seven series tied at a game a piece.
Monday, Severino was trying to undersell what could be a dynamic pitchers’ duel against Gerrit Cole.
“I don’t need to go out there and strike out 300 guys or win 20 games. I just need to go out there and match his stuff tomorrow,” Severino said. “I don’t need to do more than that.”
Well, matching Cole is a pretty lofty goal.
The AL Cy Young favorite, Cole had a ridiculous streak of dominance broken in his last start, the decisive Game 5 of the division series against the Rays. In the third inning of that win, Cole did not record a strikeout. From Aug. 1 until last Thursday, Cole had struck out at least one batter in 73 straight innings.
He finished the regular season with a major-league leading 326 strikeouts and a ridiculous strikeout-per-nine rate of 13.82. That’s 26 more than Justin Verlander, who quieted the Yankees bats Sunday night.
Cole, a one-time Yankees’ No.1 draft pick who spurned the Bombers for UCLA, leads the AL In ERA (2.50) this season, third in the big leagues. He has the second best WHIP (0.89), behind Verlander.
And Severino, who was in the Cy Young conversation in the first half of last season, is basically an unknown. He pitched just 12 innings in the regular season and had to grind through four innings in his start in the division series.
Severino shrugged off the hype about the matchup.
“For me, like I said, it doesn’t matter. Even like if somebody else is pitching, I want to go out there and get zeros for my team. Doesn’t matter if it’s Verlander, Cole or Greinke; I want to go out there and give my best,” Severino said.
The Yankees need his best.
Even after a day off and with Aaron Boone saying he expects to have a full bullpen, the Yankees need him to go longer than four innings this time. With three straight games scheduled and Boone announcing they will go with an “opener” and bullpen day in Game 4, Severino needs to go deep.
“I wish that I can get the whole game, get out there. But I don’t know how many pitches I’m going to get, but I just know that any amount of pitches that they give me I’m going out there and make the most of it, make good pitches and try to get hitters out,” Severino said.
Severino said he thinks he could go 100 pitches today.
A