Yankees: Luis Severino believes he’ll return shortly after the All-Star break

Injured Yankees ace Luis Severino (lat strain) recently resumed throwing and on Monday he made 50 throws from 60 feet without feeling any pain. The right-hander is reportedly very encouraged with how his rehab is progressing and believes he should be able to return shortly after the All-Star break.

As the Dallas Keuchel to the Yankees rumors continue to heat up Severino continues to make small strides towards a return to the starting rotation. Sevy has yet to pitch in a game for the Yanks this season, but if everything continues to go well with his rehab a return in mid to late July looks likely as GM Brian Cashman projected.

According to multiple reports including one from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com the next step for Severino is to throw on back to back days. After resting his arm on Tuesday he’s scheduled to make another 50 throws from 60 feet today so hopefully, it won’t be long before he can do so on back to back days and then eventually start throwing off a mound instead of on flat ground.

Considering Sevy still hasn’t been cleared to start throwing bullpens or face live hitters yet he still has a long way to go but the most important thing right now is that he’s feeling good.

As I mentioned above and in a previous post, the Yankees are the front runners to sign the free agent southpaw Keuchel. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported it could come down to them and the Atlanta Braves but that New York is where Keuchel wants to go and he would be willing to shave his famous beard.

With Sevy still out the Yankees would gladly open up a spot for him in their rotation. There’s also a good chance that at some point in the second half Domingo German’s innings will be limited. So even though they might not really need another starter like Keuchel at the moment they will in the coming weeks.

More from Yankees News

• Baseball Reference proves Yankees’ Aaron Judge lives rent free in Boston
• Yankees’ Clay Holmes trade just became even bigger disaster for Pirates
• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing
• Aaron Judge’s ‘breadcrumbs’ showed he was never leaving Yankees, has more moves in mind

That being said whether the Yankees end up signing Keuchel this week or not, in my opinion, they’re going to need a healthy Severino more in order to make a deep postseason run. As great as an addition like Keuchel would be he isn’t a guy the Yankees can matchup with someone like Justin Verlander or Chris Sale in Game 1 of a playoff series. A healthy Luis Severino is.

Now with the Yankees record sitting at 38-21, 2.5 games ahead of the second place Rays and 7.5 ahead of the Red Sox they can afford to be patient with Sevy and not rush him back. This Yankee team is going to make the playoffs and although it’s still very early this looks like their year to win the AL East for the first time since 2012.

As they’ve already proven they can win during the regular season without Sevy because of how deep their team is and throughout the entire organization. They don’t need him to win their division, especially if they end up signing Keuchel. However, there’s no question they’re going to need him to win a World Series.