Luis Severino didn’t have his best stuff on Monday night in the Yankees 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays. But the Yankees skipper has been encouraged by what he’s seen from his young right-hander.
“On a night where his command wasn’t what it’s been, he gets through five innings and it’s 2-0, and after he gives up the two-run homer he shuts them down and gets some big outs,” Joe Girardi said. “After that, the sixth inning got to him and he struggled bit I do see growth. I see a lot of growth from this kid.”
Severino gave up a pair of line drive singles in the first but escaped. In the second, Ryan Goins crushed a two-run homer. Severino settled down until the sixth when Toronto extended the lead with a two-run sac fly, which came when Jacoby Ellsbury crashed into the centerfield wall. Chris Coghlan added to the lead with a long home run. Severino was done after giving up five runs in 5.2 innings. Girardi thought that Severino had good stuff, which was apparent on some bad swings by Toronto hitters including Jose Bautista, but the righty got hurt when he missed. “If you’re not ahead in the count and you’re not locating, you can get hit pretty badly in this league,” Girardi said. “And that’s what it was. To me, like I said, I didn’t think that he didn’t have anything, I just thought he was a little off and behind in some counts.”
Severino went 5-3 in his rookie season of 2015, but had an awful start to 2016, losing his first six decisions. He finished 3-8 with a 5.83 ERA. But he went 2-1 with an ERA of three in his first four starts this year. The young righty pointed out that he’s been throwing his changeup more than in the past. “More comfortable,” Severino said. “Throwing it 3-2, 3-1, I feel more comfortable.”
Girardi noted that the problem was that the trouble came when pitching from behind. “I think it’s much more difficult,” Girardi said. “When you look at Sevey, and he’s attacking the zone and he’s down in the zone, he’s really, really good. And that’s what he’s done for most of the season. Tonight? He just couldn’t do it.”