Yankees: Luis Severino not chosen to start the All-Star Game

Yankees ace Luis Severino would have been an excellent choice to start Tuesday’s night’s All-Star game, but unfortunately, he’ll have to settle pitching out of the AL bullpen instead.

Astros manager AJ Hinch had a tough decision to make Monday and chose to give Red Sox ace Chris Sale the start for the third year in a row. Yankees fans were hoping to see Sevy get the nod, but now he’ll back Sale as the first pitcher out of the AL bullpen, according to Hinch.

Tale of the tape:

Severino: 14-2, 2.31 ERA, 128.1 IP, 144 K’s, 1.01 WHIP, .209 BAA

Sale: 10-4, 2.23 ERA, 129 IP, 188 K’s, 0.90 WHIP, .184 BAA

Hinch could have gone either way and there would have been no complaints, but it seems like Sevy’s final two starts before the break prevented him from starting the game. They were both so-so outings (1-0. 6.30 ERA) in what was an otherwise dominant first-half. Combine that with how Sale finished up the first half (2-0, 0.69, 24 K’s) and it’s hard to argue against the pick.

The good news for Sevy is that he’ll at least get to pitch in this year’s game after missing out on that opportunity last year in Miami. If he does pitch the second inning after Sale he’ll still face off against the NL starters and get to showcase his skills against the game’s best.

That will still be a joy to watch but it would have been even better f he got to do so starting the game. Sale will start for the AL for the third straight season so it would have been nice to see the younger Sevy get the honor. It will also be a repeat of last year’s matchup with the NL’s Max Scherzer set to face off opposite Sale for the second year in a row.

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When Sevy does enter it will be interesting to see how fast he can get it up there after we saw a slight dip in velocity during his final start before the break last Thursday in Cleveland. For the most part, Sevy only sat at 95-96 mph with his fastball and really struggled to get swings and missed with only one strikeout over his five innings.

In the All-Star game starting pitchers usually don’t hold back and throw as hard as they can so hopefully Sevy can crank it back up to 100-101 mph like we saw for most of the first half. That not only would be incredibly entertaining to watch but it would also reassure Yankee fans that he’s just fine and ready to have another monster second half.

Judge batting sixth in AL lineup, Chapman and Torres to sit out

In other All-Star news, Aaron Judge will play out of position Tuesday night in left field with Mookie Betts getting the start in right. He will also bat in the six spot of the order for an AL lineup that is stacked with superstars.

The Yankees other two representatives Gleyber Torres and Aroldis Chapman will both sit out the game to rest injuries and will enjoy the festivities from the bench. The hope with Torres is for him to return next week in Tampa for the Yankees second series out of the break.

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Chapman is probably healthy enough to pitch in the game, but he pulled himself out of the game to rest his left knee tendinitis.

Here’s Chapman on his decision per Coley Harvey of ESPN:

“At the end of the day, it was the smart decision for me to help me recover and get ready for the second half, one that’s going to be very demanding and very exciting.”