So…Luis Severino is Pretty Good
Yankees
top prospect Luis Severino was back on the mound Friday night and he tossed yet
another gem. The 21-year old right-hander has raced through the ranks of the Yankees
minor league system and has rapidly reached triple-A. After dominating hitters
at every minor league level since 2012, Severino’s success has dragged over
into the closest level he could possibly be to the major leagues.
In
addition to a low earned run average, Severino’s walks plus hits per innings
pitched (WHIP) has never been above 1.07 in his years in the minor leagues. As a
matter of fact, it appears as though the high Luis Severino rises in the farm
system, the lower his WHIP gets as it sits at just 1.02 this season.
So
now you’re probably thinking that Severino can do it all – because he can. Severino’s
repertoire consists of his best pitch – fastball – which regularly sits in the
mid 90’s and can reach up to 99 miles per hour. Severino’s primary strikeout
pitch is the changeup which is considered a plus pitch with the potential to
get even better. If he can perfect his slider, the sky is the limit for the
small but yet hard throwing youngster.
Despite
the areas of improvement needed for Severino, that didn’t stop him from
throwing 7 innings allowing 3 hits and no runs walking two and striking out six
on Friday. And what about the start before that? Oh, Severino only went 7.2
innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs (both unearned) while striking out 7 without a
walk. That, my friend, is what dominance looks like at the minor league level.
So
with the young, live arm and utter dominance exhibited in the minor leagues, it’s
no surprise the other major league teams are salivating at the chance to get
this kid. If I’m Brian Cashman, there is no way I trade Luis Severino (or Aaron
Judge, for that matter) due to the superstar status they are growing into.
This
may prevent the Yankees for getting Johnny Cueto or Cole Hamels at the trade
deadline. Although I’d absolutely love to have either one of them, if it means
trading Severino, Judge or Greg Bird, that’ll be incredibly disappointing to
not only myself but many other Yankee fans as well.
If you’re like me, you used to not be that way. If you’re like me, you and I used to be completely open to trading away prospects for proven major league talent. And although that’s not a bad idea for a team with a serious shot to win the World Series, it is irresponsible for the Yankees to trade away top prospects at this point.
I absolutely expect and hope to see this year’s Yankee squad
playing in October. And in October, anything can happen and with the Yankees pitching,
they stack up pretty well against teams in a 5 or 7 game series. But
in a slight and subtle rebuilding mode, the Yankees can become serious
contenders in 2016 and 2017 barring they hold onto their top prospects.
Due
to Severino’s youth and need for polishing his secondary pitches, it would be
unrealistic to see him thrown into the inconsistent Yankee bullpen this season
– until September, at least. I wouldn’t have foreseen this at the beginning of
the year, but my realistic prediction is that he’s on the 40-man roster in
September thus forcing the Yankees hand to bring him up for the final month of
the season.
If
he’s not on the major league ball club when the September call-ups are brought
up, we will all have to wait for him to reach our expectations of him dawning
Yankee pinstripes, full time in 2016 – his estimated time arrival in the MLB.
Article
By: Chad Raines
Follow
me on twitter @Chad_Rain
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up with our blog on twitter @BronxBomberBlog
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