But He was Never a Wretch
Severino joined the organization “unhonoured, and unsung,” in 2012. By the middle of the 2014 season, though, he had already become the team’s top prospect; Gary Sanchez was second while Aaron Judge was fifth.
"Severino began 2013 as an unknown Yankees prospect who had yet to make his U.S. debut, and he finished it as the top right-handed pitching prospect in the system. He has made another leap in 2014, becoming the organization’s top prospect, period, and pitching in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game."
It certainly seemed earned, since his overpowering fastball and bulldog demeanor made him the picture of a future Ace. And by 2015, the future seemed at hand.
Sevvy made his big league debut that year and posted an ERA of 2.89 over his eleven starts. He seemed ready to challenge as the Ace of the team. Unnoticed, though, was his WHIP: 1.20. As a comparison, 2017 saw him post an ERA of 2.98, but a WHIP of 1.040. He controlled his walks better last year.
A Walk is as Good as a Hit
However, it was a Severino stat of little import back then; it got a lot bigger in 2016. Sevvy threw 43 innings as a starter and posted an 8.58 ERA. While there were a few reasons, the two most prominent were a failure to control his heart rate, as we saw again in the playoffs, and inability to command his pitches.
"Previously featuring an elite fastball and two possible above-average to plus offerings in his slider and changeup, his heater and change both took a step back last season and resulted in disaster on the field. Yankees fans are familiar with the fine line between control and command (courtesy of Michael Pineda), and Severino followed a similar pattern with a fastball that managed to find the strike zone, but rarely ended up in the correct quadrant."
The good and well-known news by now is that Severino successfully rehabilitated himself in the off-season.
After consulting with the enemy (Pedro Martinez), Sevvy showed up in 2017 as the Ace he was destined to be. He put a 2.98 ERA and threw 193.1 IP while striking out 230. That was good enough for third in the Cy Young voting.
Of course, the difference is that winner RHP Corey Kluber will be 32 this season while second-place finisher LHP Chris Sale will be 29; Sevvy will be 24.