Yankees: Luis Severino shut down for two weeks with rotator cuff inflammation

Luis Severino was scheduled to make his preseason debut on Monday but just minutes before taking the mound he was scratched from his start due to shoulder discomfort. The Yankees later announced that an MRI revealed rotator cuff inflammation and that Severino will be shut down for the next two weeks.

This is obviously bad news for the Yankees and Severino but the news could have been a lot worse. According to manager Aaron Boone, Severino said he felt something in the back of his shoulder after he threw a slider during warmups. Boone added that it’s highly unlikely Sevy will be ready to pitch on Opening Day but the team is hopeful that he can resume his throwing program after the two-week layoff.

The injury comes just a couple weeks after Severino and the Yankees agreed to terms on four years, $40M extension with a $15M club option for a fifth year.

Now that Severino is probably going to start the season on the DL this should open up an opportunity for someone to fill his spot in the rotation to start the season. Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chance Adams and Luis Cessa are all internal options who could be in the mix to fill in. However, there’s a chance Brian Cashman could still sign a veteran starter like Gio Gonzalez or Edwin Jackson to add some depth to the staff.

Although Cessa and Adams will also be considered to step in for Sevy the favorites should be German and Loaisga because they have the most upside. Last season they both showed flashes if serious potential pitching out fo the rotation and so far this spring they’ve each gotten off to strong starts.

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Loaisiga is the Yankees top-ranked pitching prospect and in 2018 he had an ERA of 3.00 in four starts. As long as he can stay healthy which is something he’s struggled to do throughout his career his ceiling is very high. German, on the other hand, pitched in 21 games (14 starts) and had a shaky 5.57 ERA. However, he finished the season with a swing and miss percentage of 14.9 which was the ninth best in baseball among pitchers with at least 80 IP.

Even before the injury to Sevy both of these right-handers were expected to impact the big league club this season in some form. Hopefully, Sevy can return to the rotation at some point in late April but if he can’t Loaisiga and German are good options to have to fill in and could surprise us all with breakout seasons.

Any time you lose your ace for any period of time at all it’s going to sting, but the Yankees rotation is still a group that’s more than capable of helping this team win a lot of games. By trading for James Paxton and re-signing J.A Happ the Yanks are in a much better position than they were a season ago to handle to losing a key starter to injury.

Guys are going to have to step up with Sevy sidelined but as long as this injury doesn’t develop into something much worse the Yankees still figure to be one of the best teams in baseball heading into the season.