New York Yankees: Luis Severino Hopes Improved Mechanics Yield Better Results

Luis Severino blames poor mechanics for his 2016 struggles, and the young New York Yankees pitcher received help this winter from one of his team’s old foes.

The New York Yankees entered the 2016 season with high expectations for young right-hander Luis Severino. After making his debut in August of the previous campaign, Severino impressed down the stretch, posting a 2.89 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 2.55 K/BB ratio over 11 starts (62.1 innings). The club naturally hoped that the former top prospect would continue his successful run and emerge as a key component of the Yankees rotation.

Unfortunately, last year was a major setback for the 22-year-old hurler. Severino sputtered to a 5.83 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 71 frames, bouncing between the rotation, bullpen and minor leagues. While his walk (3.2 BB/9), strikeout (8.4 K/9) and home run (1.4 HR/9) rates all remained steady, the righty simply became much more hittable (7.7 to 9.9 H/9) and suffered as a result.

Severino believes he’s found a solution to his recent woes, however, and an old enemy of the Yankees could be one to thank. According to Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media, Severino thinks mechanical problems – specifically his release point – were to blame for last season’s struggles. He spent some time working on the issue with Pedro Martinez in their native Dominican Republic this offseason.

“I had the honor to work with Pedro Martinez. We focused on mechanics. That’s something [Yankees pitching coach] Larry [Rothschild] told me to do. My mechanics, my release point – trying to fix it all.”“I’m doing very well. I’ve been throwing my bullpen and my changeup is way better than last year. My fastball location is better, too. So hopefully in spring training it’ll be good.”

All encouraging words, and while Yankees fans certainly have no great love for Pedro, they surely wouldn’t mind if a bit of the Hall of Famer’s considerable talent rubbed off on his young charge.

Severino is a real wild card heading into the 2017 campaign. The Yankees rotation contains a lot of questions marks after Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia (and even those two come with some concerns), so an effective Severino would be a very welcome development.

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Further complicating matters is the fact that Severino looked like a completely different pitcher when used out of the bullpen last year. In 11 relief appearances, the righty allowed just one earned run on eight hits over 23.1 innings (0.39 ERA) while striking out 25. He was utterly dominant, limiting opponents to a hapless .105/.209/.158 slash line. As a starter, they feasted on him to the tune of a .337/.389/.587 line.

Predictably, many began to wonder whether a bullpen role was Severino’s ultimate fate. Perhaps, like teammate Dellin Betances, his stuff played better in short spurts where he could just let loose and not hold anything back. While anything is possible, it’s much too soon to write off Severino as a starting pitcher. He turns just 23 next month and has plenty of time to figure things out.

Severino apparently agrees and expressed his desire to remain a starter moving forward. Kuty reports that general manager Brian Cashman has said that if Severino doesn’t land a roster spot with the club out of camp, he will continue starting games at Triple-A. While that’s all well and good, the preferable scenario is that he puts together a strong spring and demands one of those open rotation spots right away.

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With all the exciting new prospects the Yanks have added in the past several months, it’s easy for someone like Severino to suddenly get lost in the shuffle. But he is still a highly-regarded young talent who the team hopes will be part of its future core. Considering the upcoming uncertainties in the rotation (end of Sabathia’s contract; Tanaka’s potential opt-out), Severino’s success as a starter remains a priority for the Yankees.

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