The Yankees are ready to see what Luis Severino can do.
The 21-year-old right-hander, the top pitching prospect in New York's system, is set to make his big-league debut Wednesday night against the Red Sox -- and his new teammates are as eager for it as anyone.
"It's definitely exciting. We've been talking about him for a while," reliever Dellin Betances told Newsday. "He's been doing a hell of a job in Triple-A."
That he certainly has, going 7-0 with a 1.91 ERA over 11 starts at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He's thrown 61 1/3 innings during that time, holding opponents to a .184 batting average and three home runs.
But can he handle expectations that come with such numbers, right in the middle of a pennant race?
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him and I'm not going to make too much of one start, two starts, three starts," manager Joe Girardi said. "I know the kid is talented and I know at some point he's really going to help us, but I think we're all interested in how he handles it."
The Yankees likely would have acquired either David Price, Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto had they dealt Severino last month, arguably increasing their championship odds. Price and Cueto both carry ERAs below 3.00, after all, and Hamels' final outing with the Phillies was a no-hitter.
Indeed, keeping Severino could hurt the Yankees in the short-run -- but that doesn't have to mean it was the wrong decision.
"We're very excited about it," DH Alex Rodriguez said. "Sometimes the best trades you make are the ones you don't make."
The Yankees have two players that many fans wanted to dump...no not Drew or Beltran...Didi and Eovaldi are the ones I mean.
ReplyDeleteEvo would throw instead of pitch and way too proud of his fastball.
I was very doubtful of Evo ever changing his way and selection of pitches and said so. I still think he needs a change-up, but that comes from a guy that had a 78 mph fastball so what do I know about fastballs? Well, there are fastballs that are like an arrow and the kind I and most others used...movement, of some sort. Evo didn't have any movement at all and he also had little command of it in the zone.
Didi couldn't get out of his own way on defense and at bat well let's say he was bad news.
I said give him time! Now he is playing SS better than anyone has ever played it for the Yankees. He covers more ground, strong arm, and his glove is also top of the line. His hitting has come a long way from the start of the season he has been a big part in many winning games. He is hitting lefties much better than we were lead to believe he would.
Will both of them continue to play as well as they have lately? Nobody can say one way or the other, we can hope this is only the beginning of good things to come from both of them.