Luis Severino set to make Yankees debut Wednesday night
By Andrew Battifarano | Aug 5, 2015 | 12:33PM
The recently named No. 17 prospect by Baseball America went 7-0 with a 1.91 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He is taking the spot of RHP Michael Pineda, who is out until September with a flexor strain.
GM Brian Cashman, however, wants to slow down the hype.
"We are really, really excited for him," Cashman said to ESPN's Andrew Marchand. "It shouldn’t be miscast, either. We’ll let him get his feet wet and see what he can do. He is a really exciting cat. I think he could have a very good career, but he is still young and he is still developing," (Aug. 5).
Manager Joe Giradi added that Severino needs to stay within himself to keep up his success.
"The thing I would tell him is, he understands himself better than anyone else," Girardi said. "You feel, in a sense, you think this is the right pitch, I want you to throw a pitch with 100 percent conviction."[sny-editorial userid="carelli21"]
Severino’s debut will come with high expectations from Yankees fans for multiple reasons.
First, Severino is the highest rated pitcher to debut for the Yankees in the last several years. He is a big part of the Yankees’ partial transition to rebuilding the farm system and utilizing youth over adding costly free agents at every position. Severino was classified as “untouchable” by Yankees brass during the recently concluded non-waiver trading period.
Second, the Yankees need him to be good. Severino is basically replacing Pineda, one of the Yankees’ top starters the last two seasons. The Yankees' rotation has been the weakest part of the team as whole in 2015, and if the club hopes to maintain its lead in the American League East, Severino cannot just come in and eat innings. The Yankees expect him to be competitive, and they have indicated that he will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. This is not a one-and-done call-up.
Third, Severino has flown through four levels of the minor league system in two seasons alone, with exceptional results at each stay. Severino made 14 Double-A starts between 2014-15, and then 11 at Triple-A this season.
When a pitcher with his scouting projections and recent success makes his MLB debut, it’s difficult for expectations to be tempered.
SNY.tv’s Christopher Carelli is the founder of Yankees Unscripted, a site devoted to narrative-free commentary about the New York Yankees. Follow Christopher on Twitter, @Chris_Carelli, for up to the minute coverage of the team.