Severino could come back better

TAMPA — Luis Severino could be even better than he was before following Tommy John surgery, according to longtime Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey.

“I think when he does come back, he’s gonna be much stronger,’’ Harkey said Saturday of Severino, who is expected to return to the Yankees rotation around midseason after undergoing elbow surgery a little over a year ago.

Harkey’s reasoning lies in the fact that being sidelined gave Severino an opportunity to work on his body in ways he couldn’t when he was preparing for starts every five days.

“If you dig into it, you can do things to your body you weren’t able to when you’re healthy because you have the time,’’ Harkey said.

Harkey was among the Yankees pleased with what Severino did in his first bullpen session since the procedure, a 20-pitch session that featured all fastballs on Tuesday, in which he looked sharp.

“I’ve seen a lot of first-time bullpens after Tommy John, and watching [Severino’s], it was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever seen a player throwing his bullpen and probably the most aggressive I’ve seen from a player,’’ Harkey said.

Severino threw another bullpen session — this one 25 pitches — on Friday and Aaron Boone said there were no issues.

“He’s feeling confident getting on the mound,’’ the manager said. “There’s no apprehension and it’s coming out well.”

➤ Corey Kluber had no complaints about how he felt in his four-inning, 54-pitch outing Saturday, which is the most important aspect of his spring. But the right-hander, who threw just one inning a year ago due to a strained shoulder, said his location wasn’t where he wanted it to be in the Yankees’ 7-5 win over the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.

He hit a pair of batters and allowed a homer to Tony Stokes Jr. on a pitch that got too much of the plate.

Overall, though, Kluber said he is pleased with where he is at this point of the spring and believes there’s just some “finetuning” to be done with his consistency and pitching lanes.