Hal: Luis Severino Will Probably Reach Majors in 2015

The free agent market is starting to freeze up. There are not a lot of players left, and the ones that are either bench pieces or will cost a considerable amount of money. However, the Yankees have deep pockets so a guy like Max Scherzer seems to be on the table to the media no matter how many times the team makes a statement saying otherwise.

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was speaking at the MLB owners meetings about the idea of adding Scherzer to the 2015 Yankees, but hinted at a much more exciting adventure. He said the Luis Severino is “our best prospect” on the team (true) and that he will “probably” be on the big league squad at some point in 2015.

This is fantastic news to hear if you are a Yankee fan. Severino came seemingly out of nowhere to become one of the biggest faces of the Yankees minor league system. In 2014, Severino split time between single A ball, advanced A ball, and AA.

With the three teams he combined for a 2.46 ERA in 24 starts over 113.0 innings. Looking only at his time with the AA Trenton Thunder, Severino went 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 25 innings. He had a WHIP of 1.04 and a strikeouts per nine innings of 10.4. The guy can throw.

This past October, Severino was ranked the #1 prospect in the Yankees system by Baseball America, ahead of some guys like Aaron Judge, Gregory Bird, Gary Sanchez, Ian Clarkin, Rob Refsnyder, and Jacob Lindgren. Severino’s fastball sits in the mid-90s and can top out at 98 miles per hour. He has an above average changeup that can make hitters look silly, and a slider that still needs some time to develop.

The Yankees bullpen looks to be full, but the starting rotation could be lacking if they see the same number of injuries they did in 2014. Severino is only a starting pitcher, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him jump to the major in long relief.

While no one is hoping for injuries, I think the Yankees will make an effort to get him in the rotation if and when he arrives in the Bronx.