ALL EYES ON SEVERINO TONIGHT
Sevy returns tonight in battle against time to get ready for playoffs
The Yankees are upbeat about having Luis Severino pitch for the first time this season Tuesday night against the Angels at Yankee Stadium.
Considering the 25-year-old right-hander went 33-14 with a 3.18 ERA in 63 starts in 2017 and 2018 and finished third and ninth, respectively, in the AL Cy Young races, Severino’s credentials certainly carry weight.
Yet, before Severino can be considered to offer help to the Yankees’ postseason pitching staff, he has to show the decisionmakers he is healthy and throwing well enough to be counted on when every pitch matters.
Severino will likely have to do that in three big-league outings beginning Tuesday against the Mike Trout-less Angels. Severino will start in the f irst game of a six-game homestand, the last of the season in The Bronx in front of the ALDS that will open at the Stadium.
“Obviously, to make pitches,’’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said when asked about the biggest challenge in front of the former staff ace — who experienced right rotator cuff inflammation in spring training and then developed a lat problem while rehabbing the original injury.
Severino made three minor league rehab starts, two for Double-A Trenton and one for TripleA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. While the numbers (13 hits, four earned runs in 7 ²/₃ innings) weren’t great, there wasn’t a hint of arm discomfort.
No matter whether it is a position player or a pitcher returning from a long layoff — the last bigleague game Severino pitched was Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS when the Red Sox punished him for six runs and seven hits in three innings on the way to a 16-1 beating — there is rust. And it’s not just with the performance. Often the lack of competition during the layoff is a factor.
So until the Yankees get a look at Severino in these three games they won’t know what they have.
“You want to see it,’’ former Yankees right-hander and current YES analyst David Cone said. “Can he make big pitches in big spots?’’
Cone knows about shoehorning in a return from injury before the
end of the season. He had surgery in May 1996 for an aneurysm near his right armpit. Cone pitched two minor league games for DoubleA Norwich and returned to the big leagues on Sept. 2 in Oakland, where he threw seven nohit innings. It was the first of five games that fronted three postseason starts. The best one came in Game 3 of the World Series against the Braves in Atlanta after the Braves copped the first two games in The Bronx.
Cone delivered six innings of one-run pitching that sparked a 5-2 win, the first of four straight that led to a World Series title.
According to Cone, Severino’s biggest hurdle will be command.
“Probably the overall sharpness of his pitches. That is the last thing to come even if the velocity is up and your arm feels healthy,’’ Cone said. “There is a trust factor you will make good pitches. Making good pitches in key spots gives you the conf idence you can do it.’’
One difference between Cone’s and Severino’s situations is the current Yankees are built around a very deep bullpen, so if Severino starts in the postseason, he probably won’t be needed much more than for four or five innings.
Though S ever in ow ill start Tuesday night, the Yankees haven’ t definitely said how he will be used if healthy and throwing well enough to be included on the October roster.
Severino prefers starting; however, he is looking to help the Yankees any way they want.
“Of course ,’’ Sever in os aid recently when asked if he would like to start in the postseason. “But I want to help the team.’’
Help from Severino would be welcomed by the Yankees, who invested four years and $40 million in spring training on him and are looking for the initial return.
First, they have to see if there is enough time to get Severino to the point the brass feels he has enough to pitch in October when there are no more Angels, Rangers and Blue Jays on the schedule.