This past Friday, Luis Severino underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery, and also had a bone chip removed in his right elbow. The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Severino released a statement last week about the surgery. “I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to put on a Yankees uniform and compete with my teammates this year, but I promise that I will be working tirelessly during this process to come back stronger than ever to make the greatest fans in baseball proud.” (CBS Sports).
Severino’s injury is a big blow to the Yankees, who after they signed Gerrit Cole, believed that their starting pitching would be one of the best in baseball. However, with Severino out for the year, Paxton out until May or June because of back surgery, the rotation looks rather thin after Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka.
Since Severino signed a four-year contract, $40 million extension prior to the 2019 season, he has made just five starts (including the postseason). However, when healthy Severino is one of the best pitches in baseball. In 2017, Luis Severino went 14-6 with 193.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 10.71 K/9, 5.6 fWAR, and a third place finish in the AL Cy Young award. In 2018, Severino was almost just as good; he went 19-8 with 191.1 IP, 3.39 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 10.35 K/9, 5.4 fWAR, and a ninth place finish in the AL Cy Young award.
Additionally, since Severino is only 26 years of age, hopefully he can return to his 2017-18 form when he comes back in 2021. For the time being, the Yankees still have a very talented roster, as they try to win their first World Series since 2009.
Key:
FIP: Fielding Independent of Pitching. This stat is essentially a version of ERA that is more focused on what the pitcher can control (Walks, Home Runs, Strikeouts, Hit Batsmen). MLB average: ~4.50 FIP.
K/9: Average number of strikeouts in a nine-inning game. MLB average: 7.92 K/9
fWAR: Wins Above Replacement for Fangraphs. For example, if a player has a 0.1 fWAR they are worth 0.1 wins more than a replacement-level player (0.0 fWAR).
Sources
https://www.baseball-reference.com/
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/yankees-luis-severino-undergoes-tommy-john-surgery-will-miss-entire-2020-season/
https://www.fangraphs.com/
*All information given to Backsportspage about Severino’s surgery is credited to the New York Yankees
