Future Ace? Severino Dominated in Tuesday’s Rotation Return

22-year-old Yankees phenom Luis Severino appeared untouchable through 2 1/3 innings against the Red Sox Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the next two frames resurfaced doubts about his command and ability to handle big league hitters.

The Yankees, as strange as it still seems at times, have committed to a rebuild in which they plan to showcase their young talent for the foreseeable future. It was the correct call at the Trade Deadline for a franchise starved of recent success stories from the farm system outside of bullpen stud Dellin Betances and serviceable outfielder Brett Gardner.

But you see, too-good things will always be too good to be true, and even the brightest of rebuilds cannot escape that off-setting darkness. The baggage of rebuilds is that up-and-comers will have their fair share of hiccups while trying to adjust to life in the majors.

Luis Severino’s anticlimactic return to the rotation served as a reminder that even the Yankees cannot escape this principle.

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Through his first seven outs in Tuesday’s contest, Severino allowed one hit — a single — struck out two and walked none. His slider flashed as a plus-pitch with added depth and a tick-down in velocity that complimented his high-90s fastball.

It was as if Severino cured his ailments during his mid-season Triple-A stint. The Yankees optioned their prized pitcher after he went 0-6 with a 7.46 ERA in seven starts to open the season.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi wasn’t strictly focused on Severino’s numbers during the demotion — for the record, he went 7-1 with a 3.25 ERA and a 3.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio — it was honing command of all three pitches — fastball, slider and changeup — that was Severino’s task at hand.

Girardi watched video footage of the right-hander’s starts until he was deemed ready for a return, albeit initially in the bullpen and not the rotation.

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Severino’s rocket fastball, which helped him soar through the Yankees system in three short years, played even livelier in a relief role, and reformed mechanics added wipe-out devastation and accuracy to the slider. The Dominican native tossed 8 1/3 scoreless innings to stake a claim at a rotation spot once again.

This brings us back to the third inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass., when Severino lost touch of his pitches and began to elevate toward the middle of the zone.

The Red Sox strung together a single and two doubles to score two runs and decimate the Yankees’ early lead. A flawless fourth inning precluded a disastrous fifth in which Severino would not escape.

A leadoff triple from Sandy Leon set the stage for Boston’s 5-3 victory. Rookie outfielder Andrew Benintendi missed a laser-beam homer by inches to dead center, but it was ruled a double instead and still scored Leon. Two batters later, second baseman Dustin Pedroia prevailed in a nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in an RBI double that scored Boston’s fourth run and ended Severino’s night.

Pedroia was still Severino’s responsibility on second when newly-acquired southpaw Tommy Layne, who pitched parts of three seasons with the BoSox, entered the game. Layne allowed the inherited runner to score on a long David Ortiz single, capping off Severino’s line: 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.

Obviously, zero walks is encouraging, but also a misnomer of command. Typically, Fenway’s Green Monster in left field gives pitchers trouble on sky-scraper fly balls that overachieve as home runs. But tonight, the heavy damage against Severino was done in the deeper confines of the ballpark as his command drifted.

The young man has a tremendous arm, but must learn pitchability — the art and ability to dissect hitters with location, not just rearing back and throwing. Severino has learned the hard way that major league hitters can turn on a high-octane fastball if poorly placed. Per Jorge Ortiz of USA Today Sports, the average 2015 pitcher threw a 92.1-mph fastball, an all-time high that is two miles an hour faster than data recorded in ’05.

The league is adjusting to heaters; therefore, it’s stressed now more than ever that pitchers hit their spots. If you don’t, the game of baseball will humble you quickly.

Starter Chad Green is a comparable example. Green, 25, has been among the International League’s best hurlers in the minors, but has been charitable with home run balls in his major league efforts.

Soon-to-be Yankees Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin, in all likelihood, will not be exempt from growing pains either. Except they will be on the other end of the stick, learning how to adjust to pitchers and become the offensive producers that the once-acclaimed “Bronx Bombers” so desperately need.

The Yankees, 56-56, have the perfect opportunity to develop their prospects in the major leagues this year. Fangraphs’ 1.4% chance of them snatching an American League Wild Card spot cautions not to be fooled by the 5.5-game deficit.

Both Girardi and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner have declared a willingness to play the kids — like Luis Severino — through the ebbs and flows, in hopes it will prime the Yankees for contention as early as the ’17 season.

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So if the question is: “Does Luis Severino have the goods?” Of course he does; his raw stuff is off-the-charts nasty. Now all he needs is a little bit of command, exposure and support.