Luis gets Opening nod over Tanaka
LAKELAND — The Yankees simply felt it was Sevy’s time to start on Opening Day.
Meanwhile, Masahiro Tanaka’s spring-training struggles continued on Saturday, making it even more obvious that Larry Rothschild and Aaron Boone made the right call in aligning their rotation this way.
Luis Severino will get the ball on March 29 against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, with Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray rounding out the four-game series. Jordan Montgomery will then start in the team’s home opener on April 2 against the Rays.
Tanaka regained his dominance in the playoffs after a mostly awful regular season in 2017. But Severino’s overall body of work, and his ascension as ace of the pitching staff, made him the obvious choice.
Even Tanaka agreed after surrendering a pair of homers and not getting out of the third inning against the Tigers, as his spring ERA rose to 11.25.
“I thought it was well-deserved,” Tanaka said. “Everybody knows how well he pitched last season, and he is the guy that should start the very first game of the season.”
The Bombers hope Severino is their No. 1 guy for the long haul, a 24-year-old righty who finally figured it out last season, commanding his full pitching arsenal, and dominating as a result. Featuring a blazing fastball, sharp slider and vastly improved changeup, Severino went 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA during the regular season in 31 starts.
“We feel like it’s his time for it,” Boone said. “With what he was able to do last year, we feel like he’s in a really good place now. We just felt like now is the time for him to take on that role and we think he’s ready for it. I’m looking forward to seeing him grow in his role as one of the aces of this staff.”
Severino had his share of hiccups in the playoffs — namely his implosion in the AL wild-card game — but the Yankees were impressed how he bounced back. This time, they hope, the moment of Opening Day — just 1/162nd of the season but a big deal nonetheless — won’t be too great for him.
“This is another step, I feel like, on his career path,” Boone said. “I think the way he responded to that game contributed to us saying, ‘Now is the time.’ He’s good to go.”
The Bombers have brought Severino along slowly this spring after he threw a career-high 209.1 innings combined between the regular season and playoffs — 58 more innings than he pitched in 2016. He will make his next tuneup start on Sunday against the Marlins.
“My body feels great, and my arm does too,” he said recently. “I’m ready for the challenge.”
Tanaka had started the last three Opening Days, but the 29-year-old righty was shelled in his last one against Tampa in 2017. He followed that up by going 1312 with a 4.74 ERA and a career-worst 35 homers allowed before dominating in three postseason outings.
Tanaka surrendered only earned run all of last spring but never felt comfortable despite the results. Now, he actually feels better than he did then — even if the results aren’t there.
Still, Tanaka admitted: “The most important thing is to actually go into the season and be able to execute and get results. Hopefully I’ll make that happen.”
Boone believes Tanaka, who opted into the final three years and $67 million remaining on his deal and has been pitching with a partial UCL tear since 2014, can do just that. As always, the consistency of his splitter and slider will be key.
“I’m going to always feel good about giving the ball to Masa,” Boone said. “Postseason, big game, whatever it is.” Regardless, Rothschild and Boone are bigger believers in Severino.