Luis Severino’s season is over, and his career with the Yankees might be as well.
The Yankees placed Severino on the 15-day injured list with a high-grade left oblique strain on Saturday following his early exit from his start Friday night start against Milwaukee.
Reliever Ron Marinaccio was recalled from Triple-A Scranton in a corresponding move.
“Definitely difficult,” manager Aaron Boone said following the Yankees’ 9-2 loss to the Brewers in The Bronx. “I feel like the last three, four weeks, [he] had started to get going again. I feel like Sevy looked good last night. So yeah, I’m sure it’s tough.
“Good news of it is, it’s not gonna be anything that really probably impacts his offseason. He should be normal getting ready for the season from a training standpoint. At least that’s something.”
Severino, a pending free agent after this season, very possibly won’t be with the Yankees next year, given the combination of his injury history and terrible season.
Michael King, who pitched a successful five innings on Saturday, is one of the pitchers who could get a rotation spot next season if Severino indeed does not return to the Yankees. King allowed one earned run and struck out nine against the Brewers, throwing 79 pitches.
Luis Severino has been placed on the 15-day IL with a left upper-body injury on Saturday. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST“I definitely like that role a lot better [than relief],” King said.
As for the last few week of this season, Boone said Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez are among the options to replace Severino in the rotation.
“Those two guys aren’t totally built up as starters,” he said. “But those are certainly two candidates to slide into that spot.”
Severino’s season from hell hit its nadir on Friday after Brice Turang hit a leadoff single in the top of the fifth. Severino dropped his glove and was in apparent pain. After the game, he said he felt “like somebody shot me.”
Consistent injuries combined with declining performance all point toward the likelihood that Severino will be pitching elsewhere in 2024.
“That’s tough,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge told The Post. “It’s a little emotional. It’s a lot of unknown. I’d love to see him in pinstripes a little bit longer, that’s for sure. I’ve enjoyed my time with him, he’s won us a lot of big games.”
Judge made his debut in 2016, a year after Severino joined the Yankees. Both were key cogs in the team’s retooling, which put them within one game of World Series berths in 2017 and 2019.
New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) grimaces with pain. Robert Sabo for NY PostSeverino, mostly because of injuries, has failed to live up to the promise he showed in the early years of his career. The list of issues includes a lat strain this season, Tommy John surgery that kept him out for all of 2020 and a groin strain in 2021.
“He’s obviously, at times, been a great pitcher,” Boone said. “Even through the injuries that he’s experienced over the last few years, when he has been healthy, he’s shouldered that load.”
That has changed this season, with Severino consistently struggling, putting up a career-worst ERA of 6.65 and at one point calling himself “the worst pitcher in the game.”
Boone and Judge both said his last few starts had been encouraging, but even that is largely due to the lowering of expectations. In his past five starts, Severino had a 3.16 ERA, but had allowed six runs in his last eight innings prior to his latest injury.
“You’re always pulling for the guy and especially him, not really knowing what’s gonna happen next year being a free agent, you never like seeing stuff like that,” Judge said. “Hopefully it’s nothing too serious and he can heal up and be in a good position for next year.”






