Luis Severino is back in action, and the Yankees might really need him come October.
Severino missed the first five months of the season since he suffered an injury to his rotator cuff in spring training, but on Tuesday he made his season debut against the Angels. The 25-year-old impressed by not allowing a run in his four innings on the mound.
On Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone joined Mike Francesa on WFAN and spoke about how "encouraged" he was by Severino's return to the diamond after the lengthy injury layoff.
"It was another good step for him, in what I kind of feel like has been a really good six-to-eight weeks for him," said Boone. "I felt like he has been building really solid momentum. I thought he got better each time in his rehab starts, and I thought he was better for us the other night … He had velocity with his fastball, but I thought the command of that pitch, and him staying within his delivery and all that, I thought he flashed some really good secondary pitches, and I think anybody that saw that would have to be encouraged by what they saw."
Severino has been out for so long, but he didn't really look rusty against the Angels. In those four innings of work, he only allowed two hits and managed four strikeouts. The Yankees would love to have Severino back and pitching like an ace again, as he did for most of 2018.
New York's starting rotation has been complicated a bit by the news that Domingo German has been placed on Adminstrative Leave as the league investigates an accusation of domestic violence against him.
The MLB playoffs begin in under two weeks, but Severino has only just come back into the rotation. Thus, the question becomes whether his postseason role with the Yankees will be as a starter or as a member of the bullpen.
According to Boone, the Yankees expect Severino to be one of their starters in October.
"He's got two more starts, that hopefully he continues to build and look the part and everything, but I would anticipate him probably starting for us. There could be a situation where he comes in in a bull kind of role, but I do envision him hopefully starting games for us in the postseason."
Boone also mentioned that CC Sabathia's role in the playoffs will be one out of the bullpen.
Click on the audio player above to listen to Mike Francesa's full interview with Aaron Boone.
