Yankees: Luis Severino could be ready to return from the IL

After making his second rehab start Friday night for Double-A Trenton it appears Luis Severino is ready to return to the Yankees from the IL.

Prior to Severino’s outing and the Yankees 6-1 loss to the Red Sox manager Aaron Boone said the ace right-handers’ next appearance could be in a big-league game if all went well. By all accounts, it was a solid performance by Sevy who pitched three innings and struck out five on 50 pitches. He allowed a solo home run which was the only run he surrendered and gave up five hits, but his stuff looked major league ready according to a scout who was in attendance.

Following his start, Severino threw another five pitches in the bullpen to raise his total to 55 on the night and his next time out he’ll likely be stretched out even more. Based on Boone’s pregame comments my guess is his next outing will be with the Yankees but since the Thunder advanced in the Eastern League playoffs there’s a chance he could make his third rehab start for them.

With 21 games left to go in the season, it honestly doesn’t really matter where Sevy makes his next start as long as he gets his work in and continues to stretch himself out. If it were up to him I’m sure he would love for his it to be with the big league club, but there’s no need to rush him back at this point because of where the Yankees sit in the standings.

Severino told Greg Johnson of the Trentonian after the game that he is hopeful he’ll be able to reach 100 pitches in another three outings.

“Hopefully next outing it’ll be 60 to 65,” Severino said. “After that we’ll go 75 and then after 85, just 100. So I would say in three more outings I’ll be hitting 100 pitches.”

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This is extremely encouraging stuff from Sevy and speaks to how good he is feeling. All the signs right now point to him returning as a starter but we’ll have to wait and see how he responds after each of his next two outings. That being said if he can build himself up enough to throw 90-100 pitches before the end of the season he could be a real game-changer for the Yankees in October.

Dellin Betances also pitched for Trenton Friday night in what was his first rehab appearance. Betances threw 19 pitches in a scoreless inning with one walk and one strikeout. His fastball reportedly topped out at 94 mph and his slider looked very sharp. Before he got hurt in spring training his fastball was around 89 to 90 mph so hopefully as he continues to rehab his velocity will continue to increase.

Betances will likely make another appearance or two for Trenton or Triple-A Scranton according to Boone, and if all goes well it doesn’t sound like he’s all that far off from returning to the big leagues himself.