Luis Severino
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The New York Yankees are the odds-on favorite to win the 2020 World Series and Luis Severino is preparing for his interleague at-bats.

Kelly's Comments

New York Yankees ace Luis Severino is getting some practice with the bat this offseason in preparation for interleague play next season. During a softball at-bat, Severino unleashed a home run that Aaron Judge would be proud of.

Upon further review, that home run ball may have gone crashing through the window of general manager Brian Cashman‘s office.

And clearly he’s been hitting the cages with Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. He opened up his hips, ripped his hands through the zone, and hit an absolute missile right over the wall. Doesn’t take a statcast recap to see this ball was hit no less than 500 mph.

What I really appreciate is the clear focus Severino has on his future at-bats in the World Series. The National League requiring pitchers to hit is ridiculously stupid but hey, Severino needs to prepare for it anyway.

Sure, people expect that a pitcher stepping up to the plate will result in an obvious bunt or strikeout, but that isn’t good enough for Severino. He wants to do damage at the plate. When Severino steps up for three at-bats maximum in 2020, he’s gonna make sure that he gives himself three runs to work with.

Of course, If I was Aaron Boone, I’d be watching this tape and seeing a pinch hitter. The roster flexibility that being able to use a pitcher as a pinch hitter provides is surely too sweet to pass up. He might even have some tough decisions to make on how to utilize his DH spot knowing Severino has this power in his bag.

Either way, I’m going to start developing some updated “Murderer’s Row” shirts.

Lifetime ballplayer and Yankee fan. Strongly believe that the eye-test and advanced stats can be used together instead of against each other.