Yankees: Latest Luis Severino injury rehab update is concerning

After two straight All-Star seasons, Luis Severino looked like he was going to be a building block of the New York Yankees for years to come, as he combined a blistering fastball and sharp breaking ball in order to make him one of the best young pitchers not just in the American League, but all of baseball.

Unfortunately, some heartbreaking injuries, including Tommy John Surgery, have cost Severino essentially three straight prime seasons. Despite all of that, Severino is doing everything he can to work his way back to a Yankees rotation that is struggling to fill in the gaps due to even more injury concerns and COVID-19 positive tests.

While Severino was rehabbing with the Double-A Somerset Patriots, he was scratched from a second rehab appearance after he “didn’t feel right” in warmups. It appears that even more bad injury news could be headed Severino’s way.

Severino has returned from his rehab assignment, but he was not activated off of the IL. Per The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler, he is scheduled to get tested for shoulder tightness on Monday. This…likely does not mean Yankees fans will see Severino with the major league club anytime soon.

Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is still not healthy.

Severino had a 3.18 ERA with 450 strikeouts in the 2017 and 2018 seasons combined, and he looked every bit like the frontline starter he was promised to be in the minors. Since then, through absolutely no fault of his own, Severino has just 12 regular-season innings and a handful of postseason frames to his name.

What makes Severino’s injury even more disheartening was the fact that in a rehab start against the Bowie Baysox, Severino retired all 12 batters he faced, striking out five on 48 pitches in the process. he looked ready to go…until his body once again decided to fail him.

Though Gerrit Cole appears ready to return after his COVID-19 positive test, the Yankees could’ve used someone like Severino to come up to the majors and give them the boost that they needed. Instead, the Yankees can only watch as Severino’s arm starts to fail him again.

All hope is not lost just yet, as a clean MRI could help Severino return to action relatively soon. Even with that caveat, this is one step short of the worst-case scenario for Severino’s rehab.

The Yankees have to wonder, at this point, not only if Severino will pitch as he did during his peak, but if he will ever pitch for the Yankees again. All the Yankees can do now is hope that the MRI comes back with a positive diagnosis, because another injury would be devastating for Severino and the rotation as a whole.

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