Homegrown Yankee Luis Severino enters contract year in ‘elite shape’

Luis Severino is entering arguably the most important season of his career in unfamiliar circumstances.

The 28-year-old’s four-year, $40 million contract extension he signed after the 2019 season will expire next winter as he will enter free agency for the first time in his career. Severino apparently has reported to Tampa prepared for his crucial season.

“Sevy’s in elite shape right now,” manager Aaron Boone said on Saturday at George M Steinbrenner Field. “He’s another guy who I feel like has had a really good winter as far as just getting prepared the ‘best shape of your life spring training stuff’ that happens…

“I think hopefully everything’s lining up for him to have a really great year for us because we’re certainly counting on him.”

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The Yanks, however, are counting on the right-hander is a different capacity than they’re used to this spring. With the addition of Carlos Rodon and the outbreak of Nestor Cortes last season, Severino is not required to be the No. 2 starter behind Gerrit Cole or ace of the staff as he was expected to be in years past. Partially due to the amount of innings, he’s tallied in recent memory.

Severino has totaled 120 innings — 102 last season — since 2019 due to various injuries including his recovery from Tommy John surgery, he had in 2020. When he has been on the mound during his career he’s been dominant and showed flashes last season.

The Dominican native registered a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts last season, a year where he went on the injured list with a right-lat strain that landed him — to his displeasure — on the 60-day IL. Boone recognizes how dominant his flamethrowing right-hander can be.

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“Yea, no doubt [he can have a monster season],” said Boone. “He’s one of those guys along with Carlos [Rodon] and Gerrit [Cole] that you never really want to put a ceiling on what they’re capable of doing because it’s capable of being the best at what they do and that’s where Sevy is in his career.

“You talk about those two years [2017 and 2018] before the injuries hit him hard, last year he had that kind of year too. It got broken up there where he missed some time in the middle-later part of the season, but, before that and then when he returned he was a frontline pitcher.”

Severino indeed possesses frontline stuff and displayed it when he was on the mound last season. His fastball — 96.3 mph on average — registered in the 80th percentile in baseball and owned a strikeout percentage in the 79th percentile.

In his All-Star 2017 and 2018 seasons — where he put up ERA’s of 2.98 and 3.39 surpassing 190 innings in each of the two years — his fastball checked in north of 97.5 mph on average. It wouldn’t be a surprise in his second full season off of Tommy John surgery followed by the ‘elite’ physical shape that his heater creeps closer to those numbers.

The question for the right-hander remains his health and will certainly come up in his free-agent conversations next winter. The Yanks are more protected now, should a Severino injury come into play, than they’ve ever been during his tenure with the club with three other ‘elite’ arms in their stable.

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It remains to be seen the level of commitment the Bombers have to their homegrown arm with the recent addition of Rodon and his six-year, $162 million contract.