TORONTO — Luis Severino struggled to even make the Yankees’ rotation out of spring training in 2017. Thursday, he takes the mound as the team’s Opening Day starter.
So who is Severino? The inconsistent pitcher who ended up in the minors in 2016 or the high-ceiling right-hander who finished third in the AL Cy Young voting a year ago?
The Yankees will soon find out.
Severino said before the Yankees worked out at Rogers Centre on Wednesday that he’s not thinking about it.
“I’m gonna go out there and have fun,” Severino said of his first Opening Day outing. “If I think I have to beat the numbers that I [had] last year, I’m not gonna do a good job. After the season is over, we’ll see what the numbers are.”
As manager Aaron Boone noted, his potential ace has seen it all in his young career: from little-known sensation in 2015 to the nightmarish 2016 to the excellence of last year, which was nearly undone when Severino retired just one batter in the Yankees’ wild-card game against Minnesota that they came back and won.
“[What] makes him well-equipped for this is that at 24 years of age or whatever he is, he’s been through a lot at the big league level,” Boone said of Severino, who turned 24 in February. “He’s had his struggles, he’s had to fight through things and he’s also dominated in a big way. I think that helps make him well-equipped for this next step as Opening Day starter [and] hopefully taking even another step as a starter this year.”
The rotation isn’t without its share of question marks, from CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka’s health, to Sonny Gray’s first full year in The Bronx (as opposed to Oakland), as well as the development of Jordan Montgomery.
For the Yankees to contend, they likely will need Severino to at least approach what he did last season. That starts Thursday and Severino said he hopes the experience he gained in the postseason will come in handy in what figures to be a boisterous atmosphere at Rogers Centre.
“I just want to hit the glove every time,” said Severino, who pitched well in his lone start in Toronto last year.
Boone said he is confident he’s up to the task.
“You can tell this guy’s really hungry and he has an expectation that he can be a great pitcher in this game,” Boone said. “That came across to me in getting to know him a little bit [this spring] and watching him prepare. Last year was a great year for him, but he’s not satisfied with that.”
