Yankees’ MiLB News: Is 2015 the Year for Severino?

By Wayne Cavadi | Feb 23, 2015

When pitchers and catchers reported to camp for the New York Yankees, there were a lot of questions to be asked. Is Masahiro Tanaka healthy and ready for major league action? What kind of shape is CC Sabathia in? Is Dellin Betances ready to step in as the next great Yankees closer? And how close is Luis Severino to being in the Yankees major league rotation?

Joe Girardi sat and watched Severino throw on Saturday and, like many of the Yankees faithful, he liked what he saw.

“It’s a live arm,” Girardi told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “It’s a player that is bigger in stature than I thought when I heard some of the comparisons; he’s bigger than I thought. A lot of times you worry about the rigors of players that are extremely thin, but he’s a strong young kid, I believe, with a lot of talent.”

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Severino stands at 6 feet and weighs in at 195 pounds. But he pitches like a monster. Severino went from little known Yankees prospect all the way to the number one overall in the system behind a breakout 2014 season. Simply put, he dominated at each of the three levels at which he stopped. He finished the season with a 6-5 combined record, but his peripherals were off the charts. Severino finished with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP striking out 127 while only walking 27 over 113.1 innings.

It was a remarkable rise for the now 21-year old. Severino earned an invite to the MLB Futures Game where he struck out Texas Rangers top prospect Joey Gallo. He won the Florida State League (High-A) Pitcher of the Week Award after firing six shoutout innings while striking out six and walking none in late June. He was also a Yankees Organizational All Star and, as already mentioned, named the top prospect in the system.

Severino harnesses a fastball that moves in the mid-90s and can hit 98. It has sink to it which makes it even harder to hit should a batter be able to catch up with it. He has a slider and a plus changeup that look like major league ready pitches. His arsenal is ready, it simply needs some fine tuning.

Is this the year Severino breaks through to the big leagues?

“Obviously that’s not up to me, but if you’re in big league camp, there’s a reason you’re here,” Girardi told Hoch. “Some of it is that you’ve been put on the 40-man roster for the first time. Some of it is that you really have the ability, and that we think you could be a part of our club this year.”

It may take quite a few injuries to go down or possibly a September call-up, but should Severino continue his rise in 2015, it will be hard for the Yankees to hold him back much longer.

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