NEW YORK — Yankees pitcher Luis Severino was so happy on that mid-February day in 2019 when the start of his spring training included a four-year, $40-million contract extension.
The Dominican right-hander earned it, as he was an American League All-Star and finished top 10 in the AL Cy Young voting the two previous seasons, his first two full ones as a big leaguer.
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The first sign of trouble came less than a week after Severino smiled and smiled through a news conference at Steinbrenner Field with his wife as his side on Feb. 15, 2020. Due to right forearm discomfort, his second throwing session of the spring was canceled.
Severino couldn’t have imagined what he’d go through over the next three seasons starting with his April 2019 diagnosis of a Grade 2 lat strain. He would make it back to the mound that September to make three regular-season starts and then two more in October in the playoffs, but the next spring brought worse trouble:
A partially torn UCL.
Severino underwent Tommy John surgery on Feb. 27, 2020, missed all of last season, and due to a couple setbacks this year, his expected return in June or July was delayed until Monday.
At long last, Severino has been activated from the 60-day injured list and he’ll be available to pitch in relief on Monday night when the Yankees begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees opened up a spot on their 28-man active roster for Severino after Sunday’s game by optioning pitcher Clarke Schmidt to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. A 40-man roster opening was cleared on Monday: Reliever Sal Romano was released.
Severino was cleared to return after looking and feeling good hitting 96 mph facing hitters in a simulated game last Friday at Yankee Stadium. He’s not built up to be a starter, but the Yankees are hoping he can give them two or three innings of quality relief a few times over the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Yankees desperately need a spark, as they went into Monday’s game trailing the Toronto Blue Jays by 1 ½ games for the second American League Wild Card. The Yanks also were 2 ½ games behind the Boston Red Sox, who hold the first spot, and a half-game ahead of the Oakland Athletics, who were fourth.
Severino mostly has been a starter throughout his career, but he had a lot of success pitching out of the bullpen in 2016 he was demoted due to poor results as a starter. That season, he was 0-8 with an 8.50 ERA in 11 starts and 3-0 with an 0.39 ERA in 11 relief outings.
Severino rejoined the Yankees’ rotation full-time the next season and quickly became their ace, going 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 31 starts in 2018 and 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA in 32 starts in 2019.
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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