It has been 706 days since Luis Severino pitched in a game for the Yankees.
That day, Oct. 15, 2019, was Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Astros. These upcoming games won’t be playoff games, but as the Yankees continue to trip over their own feet, they might as well be.
Each of these games — starting with Monday’s, which Severino will be active for — has heightened importance for the Yankees (83-67, 1.5 GB of a wild card spot). Whether that urgency will require Severino to pitch is likely dependent on game situations, but the fact that Severino is on the active roster at all speaks volumes about how the Yankees view their current situation.
Things are dire, and they need their best players ready to go, even if it’s in a dramatically different role.
“Sevy could be in a lot of different roles,” manager Aaron Boone said before Monday’s game against the Rangers. “We’d love to get him in there one of these first couple days just to get him going. We’re down to 12 games and we know how important these are, so he could find himself in the highest-leverage situation, could evolve to a multi-inning role, whatever.”
Severino has not pitched in relief since 2016, during his age-22 season. Now 27 years old with two All-Star appearances and a top-three Cy Young finish on his resume, Severino has to not only re-acclimate to big-league hitters, but also the late innings of critical games.
“I think it’s been long enough,” Severino said on the field during Monday’s batting practice. “I’ll definitely be ready for any situation.”
Severino only pitched in three games in 2019 and missed all of 2020 after Tommy John surgery in February of that year. His return this year was delayed by leg and shoulder injuries.
“I don’t know if there’s any easy way to do it,” pitching coach Matt Blake said of transitioning to the bullpen. “Sevy’s pretty good about his preparation.”
Severino said getting used to fans again will be weird, but then his focus has to shift to the men in the batter’s box. The key for Severino, according to Blake, will be to treat these relief appearances like he would a start.
“I think, knowing what it takes to get him ready to be a starter, and then thinking about what kind of timeframe he would need to know he’s going into a game as a reliever,” Blake said.
Blake also mentioned that the Yankees are going to be cautious about not overextending Severino, likely limiting him to 25 or 30 pitches per appearance. In his rehab games, he’s been sitting between 96 and 98 miles per hour on his fastball and showing consistent shape on his pitches, per Blake.
“I come here every day to work and get better,” Severino said. “I have confidence in myself.”
According to Blake, the Yankees will stay away from using Severino in back-to-back games, at least initially.
“We’ll protect him,” Blake said. “The number of arms we have down there at this time of year helps with that. We’re trying to balance a couple different things with returning to play, a new role, coming off rehab in a pennant race, so we’re juggling a lot of balls to get him in the mix. Obviously, you want to do right by him as well.”
There’s also a sense of accomplishment here, as Blake readily mentioned. Seeing Severino in a Yankee uniform at all is a small victory for the team, as it allows them to have Severino undergo a traditional offseason rather than one full of rehabilitation and physical therapy. There’s also the jolt that comes with getting a pitcher back who, as recently as 2018, was one of the game’s absolute best.
“I’m really excited,” Boone said. “Excited for Sevy too. It’s been a long road for him. We’re excited to add a really good pitcher to the mix.”
In the corresponding roster move, Sal Romano was released prior to Monday’s game.
COLE TAKES THIRD PLACE
Despite the atrocious result, Sunday’s game did bring a slight bit of positivity for Gerrit Cole.
In striking out seven Cleveland hitters in his 5.2 innings (which also included 10 hits and seven runs), Cole grabbed sole possession of third place on the Yankees’ single-season strikeout list. Now sitting at 231 strikeouts on the year, Cole passed CC Sabathia and Luis Severino, who both had 230 K’s in their 2011 and 2017 campaigns, respectively.
Cole needs nine strikeouts to take second place from Jack Chesbro’s 1904 season. The Yankee record is 248, set by Ron Guidry in 1978. Cole said he’s aware of the record being within his reach, but given the Yankees’ current state, one would assume Cole would take zero strikeouts down the stretch if it meant getting his team into a meaningful October game.
