New York Yankees Report Card: Grading the Debut of Luis Severino
By Matt Curran
Starting today we will be introducing a new series to Yanks Go Yard called New York Yankees Report card, where we’ll use our expert opinions to rate player performances at given times throughout the season. Who better to start with than top rated prospect Luis Severino, who became the youngest player in Major League History to make his major league debut last night against the Boston Red Sox.
Severino was called up to replace Michael Pineda in the rotation, and Yankees fans were more than excited to see their top prospect make his pinstripe debut. Severino ranked 16th in all prospects according to MLB.com, and was the Yankees number one overall prospect over the course of the past two seasons.
In his major league debut, the 21-year old went five strong innings, giving up only two hits, striking out seven, and not walking a single batter. He gave up two runs while only one was earned, and unfortunately ended up with a loss. It only seemed fitting that the Red Sox would spoil his debut, especially when the Yankees spoiled the major league debut of top Red Sox pitcher Henry Owens just one day earlier. Some may see this as ironic, but we see it as another reason why the Yankees and Red Sox still have the best rivalry in all of sports.
Anyway, here’s a deeper look into Severino’s debut.
Pros
Luis Severino was masterful in his start tonight. He was throwing hard, and was able to locate for most of the game. Severino was able to show the full arsenal, and you can see why Cashman refused to trade him for big name players at the deadline like Cole Hamels, David Price or Johnny Cueto, just to name a few. Severino has that easy gas and an electric slider. Those seven strikeouts tonight were no fluke, and we should expect him to be a strikeout machine. Severino was also fearless when he was on the mound. Pitcher’s who get called up sometimes try to aim, and it does not end well, that was not the case with Luis Severino. Every at-bat, Severino was attacking the hitters. His fastball sat comfortably at 96 mph, and sometimes maxed out a bit higher.
Cons
There were very few cons in Severino’s start. The main problem was the length of his start. Luis Severino went only five innings, and thew almost 100 pitches. Most likely this was just Larry Rothschild and Joe Girardi just airing on the side of caution, but Severino needs to go deeper into ball games to be effective. The only other mistake he made was to David Ortiz in the fourth. On a 2-0 count Big Papi crushed a ball that was middle in, instead of being outside. When you are facing a threat like Ortiz you can not make those mistakes, and Severino will learn with more experience. On the flip side, being that Ortiz is a Dominican Republic native who players like Severino grow up idolizing, it was a bittersweet welcome to the major leagues.
Overall
You could not ask for a better performance from Luis Severino in his major league debut. It was ashamed the Yankee bat’s were quiet for him, as he deserved a win in his debut. I’m already counting down the days till his next start!
Official Grade: A-
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