Yankees announce Luis Severino will miss the entire 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery

The Yankees biggest nightmare became a reality on Tuesday after GM Brian Cashman announced All-Star right-hander Luis Severino is going to need Tommy John surgery.

This is a huge loss for the Yankees as Severino will now miss the entire season and likely the beginning of the 2021 campaign as well. He was shut down from throwing last Thursday after he complained of experiencing soreness in his forearm when he threw his changeup. He was sent to New York for more tests and an MRI reportedly revealed a partial tear of his UCL.

Since the Yankees signed Sevy to a four year, $40M extension with a club option for $15M in 2023 about a year ago he’s only pitched a total of 20.1 innings including the postseason. This year he won’t pitch a single inning at all and it’s far too early to predict when he might see him back in the rotation in 2021.

Entering spring training Sevy was expected to break camp as the number two starter behind ace Gerrit Cole. For the first time in years, it looked like the starting staff was going to be a definite strength for the Yanks with Cole and Sevy leading the way. Now that might not be as much of sure thing and it isn’t even March yet. With Sevy done for the year and James Paxton potentially out until June after undergoing back surgery earlier this month, the Yankees pitching depth isn’t nearly as strong as it was just a month ago.

It’s a good thing they didn’t trade J.A Happ during the offseason because now he projects to open up the season as the Yanks third starter. Jordan Montgomery will likely fill the fourth slot in what will be his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery himself back in May of 2018. There will be an open competition for the fifth spot throughout camp, but at some point in June, we could see Domingo German take over when he’s eligible to return from his suspension.

When German and Paxton return they’ll provide a big boost but the Yanks are going to have to find a way to make up for their absences for at least the first two months of the season. Cole is going to have to carry the load more than originally expected and it would be a big help if Masahiro Tanaka can be a lot more consistent than he has been during the regular season in recent years.

Having a healthy Montgomery back in the fold should also help a lot and there’s a strong belief amongst the Yankees that J.A. Happ will have a nice bounce-back season after really struggling in 2019. So while today’s news regarding Sevy is terrible the rotation still has a chance to be very solid throughout the year. However, it’s clear now that the Yankees can no longer afford for anyone else to go down with a long-term injury.

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You just hate to see something like this happen to Sevy after all that he went through to try and make it back from injury a season ago. I think we all thought his arm issues were behind him coming into this season, but that obviously wasn’t the case.

After he was shut down last week he expressed his frustration when he told reporters all he wants to do is pitch. Unfortunately now he won’t get the chance to do so for at least the next 12 months. This is a giant blow for the Yankees but it’s an even bigger one for Sevy personally. Two years ago he was on the track towards stardom and now his development has been totally halted by injury and it could prevent him from ever reaching his full potential.

I guess the only thing we can all hang our hat on is the fact that he’s only 26 years old so he’ll still have a long career ahead of him once he returns. This another big obstacle for Sevy to overcome, but he’s the type of person who’s going to embrace the rehab process and work as hard as he can every single day.

Things are pretty bleak right now, but he’ll get past this and when he returns he’ll hopefully come back stronger than ever before.