Entering a promising 2019 season, the New York Yankees have suffered several setbacks. Worst of all being Luis Severino’s apparent shoulder injury.
Over the last two seasons, the New York Yankees have gotten better and better. Along the way, they’ve made it a point to lock in their core of young, homegrown players. The first of whom was Luis Severino.
Over the last couple of seasons, Severino has established himself as the ace of the staff. Since 2017, Sevy has started 63 games, pitched 384.2 IP, with a 3.01 FIP and 1.092 WHIP.
He put together one of the most dominating stretches for a starter in MLB history last season, pitching to a 13-2 record with a 1.98 ERA in his first 18 starts of the season. Starting with his 19th start, however, all hell broke loose.
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Sevy finished the rest of the season with a 6-6 record and a 5.67 ERA, allowing at least 3 ER in 9 of his last 14 starts of the season.
During the offseason, Severino attributed this to two things:
- Fatigue
- Tipping pitches
Now, to avoid falling victim to fatigue moving forward, Severino said that he had been working on his legs and shoulders during the offseason. The latter raises some questions, especially since he was shut down last week because of a shoulder injury.
At first, this injury seemed like a minor hiccup for the Yankees rotation. One that might require the team to use an opener to remedy the lack of starter depth.
Now, it seems that the shoulder issues are much more concerning than we originally thought. In fact, according to Bryan Hoch, Severino is now expected to miss a couple of months because of the injury.
Luis Severino will not be ready to pitch in @mlb games until at least May 1, Brian Cashman said.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) March 15, 2019
The question now is: what do the Yanks do now that Severino will lose a significant portion of the season?
The easy answer is to spend money.
Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez are still available and could actually play an important role with the team. Both are lefty starters; both induce lots of groundballs; and, most importantly, both fall victim to the longball way less than anybody else on the rotation.
The Yankees rotation was the weakest part of the team last season. Many even attribute the early exit in the postseason to a weak rotation.
Now, with Sevy out for two months, the Yanks will have to do more than just utilize an opener to remedy the situation. The Addition of James Paxton helps, but will not be enough to hold off a potent offense like that of the Boston Red Sox.
It’s definitely not the time to panic yet, but the Yankees and their fans should absolutely be worried. This is no way to start what many expect to be a great season.