Sevy will do whatever it takes to get back on hill

Luis Severino was throwing off flat ground Sunday, still eyeing a return to the Yankees in 2021.

The right-hander is coming back from his second setback in his rehab from March 2020 Tommy John surgery and the clock is running out on a return.

“I don’t know, but the main thing is I feel good,” Severino said when asked if he has enough time to make a return this season. “If I can’t throw this year I’ll be ready for next year, but myself, I feel confident that I can throw this year.”

Severino was shut down before a scheduled rehab start last month with shoulder stiffness and has not been on a mound since. Sunday morning, before the series finale against the Orioles at the Stadium, Severino said his shoulder, arm and body felt good and he is just waiting for the go ahead from the trainers to start working off a mound again.

Realistically, Severino, who has not pitched in a big-league game since the 2019 ALCS, does not have time to ramp back up as a starter. The next step after throwing at 120 feet on flat ground is normally off the mound and building up a bullpen session, then facing hitters in a controlled situation like live batting practice or a simulated game. Then, he would be sent out to play in minor-league rehab games to build up strength and endurance in a game setting.

The Yankees could potentially ramp him up and skip trying to build him up to the usual 85 pitches and let him work out of the bullpen. That is something Severino is willing to do if it will help the Yankees.

“I am ready to do whatever they want me to do, at this point. It’s not about me,” Severino said. “It’s about the team.”

Severino was 42-26 with a 3.46 ERA over parts of five seasons in the big leagues before in February 2019, when the Yankees extended him on what seemed like a very team-friendly, four-year, $40 million deal during the 2019 spring training. Since signing that deal, though, he has pitched just 20.1 innings because of injuries, which began with right shoulder issues in spring training 2019. He then suffered a grade 2 strained, or partially torn, lat muscle and missed most of the 2019 season.

He made two starts in the playoffs and during the second, in the ALCS against the Astros, he felt discomfort in his forearm. In the spring of 2020, he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that required Tommy John surgery.