Yankees ace Luis Severino could win AL MVP

Yankees ace Luis Severino boasts a 4.9 Wins Above Replacement and leads the American League in wins. He is on pace for 26 victories and should be considered the first-half AL MVP leader.

With the season at its halfway point, the Yankees trail the Red Sox in the AL East by mere percentage points. Much has been made of the Bash Bros, Part Deux in Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton; however, the Yankees season would be much different if it wasn’t for staff ace Luis Severino.

Should Severino continue his electric pace, he’ll be a unanimous choice for the AL Cy Young Award. He could also receive serious consideration as the AL MVP.

Severino’s dominance has been unmatched thus far. Through 81 games, he’s 13-2 with 118.1 innings pitched, a 1.98 ERA and 138 strikeouts. Opponents are batting only .198 against him.

In 425 at-bats, he’s given up just 23 extra base hits (that’s a shade over 5%!) while holding hitters to a paltry .282 slugging percentage. Sevvy’s also undefeated at home (8-0) with a 1.64 ERA, while only giving up four home runs at the hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have also won all three games in-which Severino received a no-decision.

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As the season has progressed, Severino’s only gotten better. His monthly ERA’s are as follows: March – 0, April – 3.06, May – 2.03, June – 1.60 and July – 0. When Sevvy gets ahead of the count, which he’s done in 277 out of 425 at-bats, he’s even harder to hit. At pitcher-friendly counts including 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 and 2-2, teams are hitting .174, .097, .156 and .122, respectively. He’s only given up two homers when he has hitters down to two strikes. With runners in scoring position, Severino really clamps down, holding teams to a .154 batting average.

The first two times through the opponent’s batting lineup, they are only hitting .147 and .173, respectively against the 24-year-old No. 1. Basically, Severino has been an outs machine!

Where he still has some room for improvement is pitching behind hitters and going deeper into games. Sevvy only has one complete game, departing the majority of his starts after six innings. At hitter-friendly counts of 1-0, 1-1 and 2-1, teams are hitting .375, .424 and .538, respectively.

Also, during the third time through the batting order, opponents are slugging .414. Severino needs to go deeper into ballgames and as fatigue begins to set in, make adjustments and use the corners more, instead of trying to blow away hitters.

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Without Severino, the Yankees are at best a Wild Card team. If Severino keeps up the pace even more so, he’ll be the first pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2011 to win the AL MVP. He’s boasting a 4.9 WAR and leads the AL in wins (12). Severino is on pace for an unprecedented 26 wins and is the clear-cut first-half AL MVP leader.