Luis Severino Expects to Start for Yankees in 2022

Severino has not started an MLB game since 2019.

Luis Severino has not started a big league game since the 2019 postseason. That streak will end in 2022 if the right-hander gets his way.

The Yankees pitcher said that he expects to be a starter whenever spring training begins, according to SNY’s Andy Martino. Severino, who is already throwing bullpens, spoke to reporters following a union meeting on Thursday.

Severino, 27, finished third in Cy Young voting in 2017, recording a 2.98 ERA over 31 starts. He earned a second consecutive All-Star nod in 2018 and won 19 games that year. Those campaigns earned Severino a four-year, $40 million extension in February 2019. He has not pitched a full season since.

Multiple injuries limited him to just 20.1 innings across three September starts and two postseason starts in 2019. Severino then missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He once again returned to the Yankees at the end of the season in 2021, but only after multiple setbacks during rehab assignments.

Luis Severino, Filthy 90mph Changeup...and K Scream 😱

Love having him back. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Wm7wBBi0Fi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 25, 2021

Unable to build himself up to a starter’s workload, Severino came back as a reliever last year. He threw six scoreless frames in the regular season, his first out of the bullpen since his second year in the majors in 2016.

Severino surrendered an earned run in his American League Wild Card appearance, but he looked sharp overall in relief over a limited sample. But he has also flashed the stuff of an ace when healthy, which is why it always seemed likely he would get a chance to rejoin New York’s rotation this season. That now appears to be the plan.

The Yankees don’t have much solidified in their rotation as MLB’s lockout of the players continues. Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery are the only cemented starters. Jameson Taillon has been ramping up following offseason ankle surgery, but his timeline is unclear with uncertainty surrounding spring training. Nestor Cortes Jr. came out of nowhere in 2021, but it remains to be seen if the trickster can replicate those stellar results. Meanwhile, youngsters Domingo Germán, Michael King and Luis Gil have had mixed success in the rotation.

If nothing else, there is an opening for Severino to reclaim his spot. So long as he’s healthy, it’s hard to see him coming up short of that goal.

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