Severino brings heat for Yankees
Starter anchors rotation whose ERA is second in AL
Luis Severino’s average fastball checks in at 97.2 mph, the top velocity among all qualifying major league starters.
So naturally, he has thrived this season by using it less.
The New York Yankees righthander, who showed so much promise as a rookie in 2015 but fell on his face last season, has emerged as the leading starter on a club that has powered its way to a month-long stay atop the American League East.
Despite enduring their first six-game losing streak of the season during a West Coast trip that concluded Sunday, the Yankees have retained at least a share of first place since May 21, an unexpected turn of events for a team engaged in a rejuvenation process.
Much of that success can be attributed to an offense that lives up to the club’s Bronx Bombers moniker, with a big league-high 23 home runs behind rookie slugger Aaron Judge and five other hitters who have already reached double figures in long balls.
Less noticeable but still meaningful has been the improvement of a pitching staff that has jumped from seventh in ERA in the league last season (4.16) to second (3.73).
Severino, 23, has been at the forefront of the upgrade, going 5-2 and leading the starters with a 2.99 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 811⁄ innings. That represents a 3 major turnaround from 2016, when he pitched his way out of the rotation by putting up a 0-8 record with an unsightly 8.50 ERA in 11 starts.
Such a shocking pratfall for a youngster with a gifted arm called for significant adjustments, and Severino not only worked on his mechanics with the help of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in the offseason but also altered his repertoire to mix in more of his slider and changeup.
“I realized last year that those who stay in the big leagues and the ones who do best are not the ones who throw the hardest but the most intelligent,” Severino said in Spanish. “If I rely only on my fastball, I know I’m going to get hit around. So I have to be smart in what pitches I throw.”
Severino has only diminished his fastball use from 56.2% in 2016 to 52.1% this year, but he is locating the pitch better — his walks per nine innings are down by nearly one — and has become less predictable. The Dominican Republic native has added depth to his slider with increased rotation and regained confidence in his changeup after largely ditching it the second half last season.
“He seems confident in his pitches, and he’s able to hit his spots, get himself into counts where he can get strikeouts,” outfielder Aaron Hicks said. “It seems like, if one pitch is not working, he’ll go to that next one and make it effective.”
As with any young pitcher, Se- verino still needs polish. On Friday against the Oakland Athletics, he seemed to get too breakingball-happy and walked a seasonhigh four — as many as in all of April — while yielding four runs in six innings as the Yankees went down 7-6. It was just the second time Severino had allowed more than two runs in his last eight starts, after fashioning a 1.90 ERA in his previous seven.
Manager Joe Girardi points to enhancements in Severino’s physical skills — better fastball command, the improved pitching mix and a slower tempo on the mound — as reasons for his turnaround.
But Girardi also emphasizes the value of mental strength in overcoming adversity.
“When you get knocked down in this game, like most people have, you have to fight your way out and you have to get back on top,” Girardi said. “And that’s what this kid has done, and I think he’s much better for it. He’s much better than when he burst on the scene at 21 and had a lot of success (a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts). He’s a much better pitcher now.”
Severino’s emergence has taken on increased importance with the continued struggles of erstwhile staff ace Masahiro Tanaka, whose ERA has ballooned from 3.07 to 6.34 from last season to this one, and the hamstring injury that sent veteran CC Sabathia to the disabled list.
Regardless, the Yankees figure to be on the market for another starter if they remain in the race, but at least now they know where Severino belongs.
Upon his recall last year, Seve- rino continued to struggle in spot starts but excelled out of the bullpen, logging a 0.39 ERA in 231⁄ 3 innings. Those performances raised the question of whether he was better suited to relief work, a notion he rejects outright.
“I didn’t like the bullpen,” Severino said. “I always said I wanted to be a starter, and I went into the offseason determined to work to earn a spot.”
Fellow Dominican Michael Pineda, who’s tied for the team lead with seven wins, was among Severino’s staunchest allies in his desire to remain a starter.
Pineda shared the lessons from his first few years in the major leagues, when he broke in with a strong rookie season with the Seattle Mariners, then was traded to the Yankees and missed the 2012 and 2013 seasons with shoulder injuries.
Pineda harped on the need to continue evolving and adjusting as a pitcher and to enjoy the game through good times and bad. He noted that Severino not only sought Martinez’s counsel but also arrived in camp in January for early work.
“I would talk to him last year and lift his spirits,” Pineda said. “I always told him that the hardest year in the major leagues is not the first one but the second one. All the veterans told me that, and I lived it, too.
“As a countryman, as a teammate and as a rotation-mate, it was my duty to encourage him and help keep him busy, keep him working.”
He did, and the results are evident, even when the fastball is a little less so.