Yankees: Can Luis Severino win AL Cy Young Award in 2019?

There have only been five men that have worn Yankees pinstripes and won a Cy Young award. Can Luis Severino become the sixth in 2019?

Bob Turley, Whitey Ford, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Roger Clemens are the five Yankee Cy Young winners. Could we see the first recipient since 2001, when Clemens did it for the Yankees?

For the first half of 2018, it looked like the highest honor for a pitcher was Luis Severino’s to win — by a wide margin. By the All-Star break, he was 14-2 with a measly 2.01 ERA and struck out 144 batters in 128.1 innings of work. This included a stellar performance on May 2, where he struck out 10 against the Houston Astros in a complete game shutout.

But then the Midsummer Classic came and went and so did Severino’s dominance.

In his final 12 starts, Sevvy went 5-6 with an inflated 5.57 ERA. He allowed six more runs in half the amount of the innings that he pitched in the first half. In five of his second-half starts, Severino allowed four or more runs, as compared to doing it just once in the first half of the season.

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Severino would ultimately fall all the way down to ninth in terms of Cy Young voting, as an AL East rival took home the prestigious hardware. Tampa’s Blake Snell, who was 21-5, including a 9-0 record down the stretch, took home the award.

However, the 2019 season is just 44 days away, and No. 40 is poised to make a push as the league’s most valuable pitcher. With the Yanks adding a legit second starter in James Paxton this winter, Severino should reap the reward of not having to pitch every inning like it’s his last.

Paxton has yet to be in consideration for the Cy Young, but there is a distinct possibility of seeing his name on the ballot this season. With an 11-6 record in Seattle last season, should the Big Maple eclipse his career high of 160.1 innings pitched in ’18 and help the Yankees return to the Postseason, he could indeed receive some votes.

As for Severino, who heads into Spring Training as the Yanks No. 1 starter, he is full steam ahead in 2019. As reported by NorthJersey.com, Severino isn’t ready to see a repeat of last season.

“I’ve been working on my mechanics. I’m not sure, maybe I was tipping some pitches or not, but I want to make sure this year that doesn’t happen.’’

Despite Paxton’s arrival, Severino will be on the mound on March 28 in the Bronx against the Baltimore Orioles.

The previous two seasons have shown Severino can handle 190+ innings of mostly stellar production. Could we finally see him eclipse the 200 inning mark and lead the Bombers to the promised land?