The 2023 season hasn’t at all gone how the Yankees had hoped. They entered with championship aspirations. But with two weeks left in the regular season, New York is 76-74 with very, very slim hopes of reaching the postseason. The Bombers’ rotation has been a huge disappointment, and that includes Luis Severino.
Should the right-hander, who is about to enter free agency, get one last shot in the Bronx? That’s what former Yankees hurler CC Sabathia wants to see happen.
Sabathia was at Yankee Stadium on Monday for a promotional event. He spoke on various topics related to his former team. Here’s what he had to say about Sevy (quotes via NJ.com):
I would love to see Sevy come back. Obviously he got hurt, but he was turning it around before he got hurt and I just think he hasn’t pitched a full season in a long time. Giving him another year to come back and maybe get comfortable and be in this rotation with [Cole and Rodón], I think could help.
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He went on to say the following:
It’s baseball. You have bad stretches and this won’t be the last bad stretch that he has. He’ll have more. It’s how you overcome, how you are as a teammate when you’re going through these things. And I think he’s been great. He’s in front of his locker answering questions, trying to figure out as much as he can, just like everybody else.
Severino’s 2023 campaign is over prematurely after suffering an oblique strain. Between multiple trips to the Injured List and subpar performances on the mound, it was undoubtedly the toughest year of baseball he’s experienced in quite some time (if not ever).
The right-hander was looking more like himself of late, but the overall stats aren’t pretty. Across 19 appearances (18 starts), Sevy went 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and 79 strikeouts in 89.1 innings. Between July 1st and August 15th, he struggled to an 11.08 ERA in 31.2 innings.
Sevy was far from the only problem in the Yankees’ rotation. Outside of Gerrit Cole (a Cy Young candidate), and to a much lesser extent, Clarke Schmidt, there was no consistency. Both Rodon and Sevy were duking it out for sad franchise history for a while. Frankie Montas hasn’t thrown a pitch in the big leagues. Oh, and Nestor Cortes also hit the IL on multiple occasions.
Severino will soon turn 30 years old. He’ll all but likely only command a one-year deal this winter to rebuild his value. Could it be with the Yankees? He’s said in the past that he wants to spend his entire career in New York, but that’s not solely up to him.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
