Luis Severino To Undergo MRI On Right Shoulder
Yankees right-hander Luis Severino reported tightness in his throwing shoulder yesterday, and was scratched from a planned Triple-A rehab start. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reported that Severino will see doctors on Monday, with Yankees manager Aaron Boone telling reporters (including Newsday’s Erik Boland) that Severino will undergo an MRI. More will be known once Severino is examined, with Boone expressing hope at this point that the injury is only “something minor,” and saying “I feel awful for [Severino]” in the wake of yet another potential injury setback.
Severino missed much of the 2019 season due to shoulder and lat injuries, and then didn’t pitch at all in 2020 because of Tommy John surgery. His return from that rehab was tentatively scheduled for around the All-Star break before he suffered a groin injury in June that pushed his timetable back another month. The righty had already made four minor league rehab appearances, and it is possible Friday’s outing might have been his final hurdle before finally returning to the Yankees’ active roster.
Now, it is fair to wonder if Severino might be sidelined for another full season, given the timing of this shoulder issue. Anything beyond basic soreness could require another shutdown, so it could conceivably be September before Severino again appears in a game. It’s worth noting that Severino didn’t make his 2019 debut until September 17 (appearing in three regular-season games before starting two postseason contests), though even this usage may not be feasible depending on the nature of this new shoulder problem. After such a long layoff, the last thing the Yankees would want is for Severino to incur yet another injury due to a desire just to get any game action in for the 2021 season.
The Bronx Bombers have long been counting on Severino to provide a late boost to the pitching staff, especially considering the team’s pitching ranks have been decimated by other injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak. On the latter front, there is some good news, as Boone said Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery threw bullpen sessions yesterday and are on pace to be activated from the COVID list early next week.
Injury Notes: deGrom, Mondesi, Kim, Rendon, Davidson, Means
It’s the Year of the Injury, and this post will house many of the evening’s updates on that front.
- Let’s start off with some good news for everyone except the Cubs: Mets ace Jacob deGrom is set to start tomorrow night. DeGrom left his start Friday due to right flexor tendinitis, but the MRI came back clean.
- Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi was reinstated from the IL, with reliever Ronald Bolanos going on it. Mondesi, who strained his hamstring on May 31st, is active but not in tonight’s lineup.
- Cardinals lefty Kwang Hyun Kim is also off the IL, and is starting tonight against the Marlins. Kim had a brief IL stint for lower back soreness.
- Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters the injured list has been ruled out for third baseman Anthony Rendon, who’s recovering from a mild triceps strain. Rendon has struggled at the plate this year, with a 90 wRC+ in 191 plate appearances. By measure of OPS, his .679 mark is the worst single-season 45-game slump of Rendon’s career since his 2013 rookie season.
- Luis Severino‘s rehab start injury Saturday was described as a Grade 2 groin strain by Yankees manager Aaron Boone. This will set him back about a month, leading to a possible late July/early August return.
- Braves southpaw Tucker Davidson left tonight’s start after 53 pitches with left forearm tightness, according to the team. Davidson entered the night unscored-upon in his last 11 2/3 innings, spanning a pair of starts.
- Orioles ace John Means, pulled from a June 5th start in the first inning, began playing catch for the first time since the injury according to MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. Means may be able to return by month’s end. With a 2.28 ERA and a no-hitter on the season, the lefty seems a lock for the All-Star Game.
Luis Severino Headed For MRI Due To Groin Injury
JUNE 13: Severino will undergo an MRI this afternoon and go for further examination on Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
JUNE 12, 5:24PM: Early indications are that Severino has suffered a groin injury, according to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
JUNE 12, 4:57PM: Luis Severino‘s recovery from Tommy John surgery hit an apparent setback today, as the right-hander left his minor league rehab outing due to a lower-body injury. Reporter G.T. Julian Guilarte (Twitter link) has footage of the aftermath, as a clearly pained Severino had to be helped off the field.
While perhaps the only consolation is that Severino didn’t suffer another arm injury, it certainly looks like the right-hander will now have to work his way back from another serious-seeming problem. Since Severino wasn’t expected to be an option for the Yankees until at least the start of July and likely closer to the All-Star break, it is possible that his latest injury could threaten his entire season.
Such a scenario would make it essentially three lost seasons in a row for Severino. Shoulder and lat injuries limited him to 20 1/3 combined innings in the 2019 regular season and postseason, while the 2020 season was a total writeoff after Severino underwent Tommy John surgery in February of that year.
New York was eyeing Severino as a midseason rotation boost, adding depth to a starting five that has been generally solid thanks to Gerrit Cole, Domingo German, and Jordan Montgomery. Corey Kluber had also been pitching well before a rotator cuff injury sent him to the 60-day IL until at least late July, while Jameson Taillon has struggled — a nightmarish outing against the Phillies today boosted Taillon’s ERA to 5.74 over 53 1/3 innings. Michael King has been filling in for Kluber, and if Severino is unavailable, Deivi Garcia and Nick Nelson are now the top depth options if Taillon can’t get on track or if another injury surfaces.
Luis Severino Targeted To Begin Rehab Assignment On Sunday
Yankees right-hander Luis Severino continues to make his way back from Tommy John surgery, with a pair of big checkpoints on the horizon. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record) that Severino will toss a three-inning simulated game today, and if all goes well, Severino is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Sunday.
Severino underwent his TJ procedure in February 2020, so while his recovery is taking a bit longer than the usual timeline of 13-15 months, that probably isn’t unexpected given that Severino also missed most of the 2019 season. Shoulder and lat problems limited Severino to only 20 1/3 combined innings in the regular season and postseason in 2019, so the Yankees will have essentially gone almost two and a half seasons without Severino before he is finally able to get back onto a big league mound.
It’s been a tough haul for a pitcher who looked like one of the better arms in the sport in 2017-18, when Severino made two All-Star teams and posted a 3.18 ERA/3.26 SIERA and 28.8% strikeout rate over 384 2/3 innings. The Yankees haven’t usually worked out contract extensions in recent years, but they were impressed enough by Severino’s work to lock him up on a four-year, $40MM deal covering the 2019-22 seasons, with a $15MM club option ($2.75MM buyout) for 2023. Between the shoulder issues and the Tommy John surgery, of course, Severino has barely pitched since signing that extension.
Given the long layoff, it might be optimistic to assume that Severino will immediately look like a front-of-the-rotation arm upon his return, though the Yankees will happily take anything close to that form. New York has gotten strong results from its rotation as a whole this season, but Corey Kluber will now be sidelined through July and Jameson Taillon (who is himself returning from a long Tommy John rehab) has been inconsistent over 42 2/3 innings.
East Notes: Means, Mets, Yankees, Strasburg
The Mets made an attempt to acquire left-hander John Means from the Orioles during the offseason, but Baltimore rebuffed New York, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The Mets surely weren’t alone in trying to acquire Means, who’s making a minimal salary this year and still has three years of arbitration control remaining. Means proved himself as a capable mid- to back-of-the-rotation starter from 2019-20, but he has taken his game to an entirely different level this season. The 28-year-old has pitched to a microscopic 1.21 ERA with impressive strikeout and walk percentages of 28.0 and 5.3, respectively, over 52 innings. This has been a May to remember for Means, who no-hit the Mariners on the 5th and then tossed six scoreless innings against the team that wanted him, the Mets, this past Tuesday.
Here’s more on the Mets and a couple other East Coast clubs:
- The Yankees announced Friday that designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with tightness in his left quad. The issue sidelined Stanton on Friday, and he’s now “day to day, hopefully nothing more than that,” manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Stanton endured a pair of injury-ruined seasons from 2019-20, in which he played in 41 of a possible 222 games, but has mostly stayed healthy this year. The 31-year-old slugger has been in excellent form with a .282/.347/.534 line and nine home runs in 144 plate appearances.
- Sticking with the Yankees, right-hander Luis Severino is at the “start of spring training mode” as he works his way back from February 2020 Tommy John surgery, Boone said Friday (via Marly Rivera of ESPN). Severino threw 23 pitches of live batting practice Friday and averaged between 96 and 97 mph. The 27-year-old was one of the game’s elite starters from 2017-18, leading the Yankees to sign him to a four-year, $40MM extension, though he totaled only 12 innings in 2019 as a result of shoulder problems and hasn’t pitched since. To its credit, New York’s rotation has done well this year without Severino; nevertheless, the team will surely be glad to welcome him back if he’s healthy.
- Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg will make a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com tweets. Manager Dave Martinez said the hope is that Strasburg will go five innings and throw 75 to 80 pitches. Washington has barely gotten anything in 2021 from Strasburg, who’s in the second season of a seven-year, $245MM contract, as a result of shoulder inflammation. This is the second straight injury-limited year for the former World Series MVP, who has totaled just 15 innings since 2020.
- Mets third baseman J.D. Davis and reliever Seth Lugo will soon begin rehab assignments at the Triple-A level, Bill Ladson of MLB.com writes. While the Mets hoped Davis would exit the 10-day injured list Saturday, he’s still not ready to come back since suffering a left hand sprain on May 1. The club has gone all season without Lugo, who underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow in February. Lugo started in seven of 16 appearances last season, but he’ll return to a relief role when he rejoins the Mets, per manager Luis Rojas.
Injury Notes: Cain, Realmuto, Astros, Lowrie, Severino
Lorenzo Cain recently strained his calf in batting practice and is expected to miss one or two weeks, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The injury is believed to be “very minor,” but the Brewers will be cautious in bringing the veteran center fielder back to action. Yesterday’s agreement with Jackie Bradley Jr. gives the Brewers cover at the position if Cain winds up needing more recovery time than expected. Manager Craig Counsell reiterated (via Murray) that Cain “is our center fielder,” so it seems Bradley’s ticketed for right field on most days if everyone’s healthy.
A few more injury updates:
- Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto had his hard cast removed and replaced with a splint as he works his way back from a fractured right thumb, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com was among those to report. That’s a generally encouraging sign, as Zolecki notes that this had been the anticipated next step in his recovery. However, Realmuto still has not progressed to a point where he can hit or throw. It remains unclear if he’ll be ready in time for Opening Day. Something resembling a typical season from Realmuto, arguably the game’s top catcher, is no doubt a key piece of Philadelphia’s hopes of snapping a nine-year playoff drought.
- Third baseman Alex Bregman and designated hitter Yordan Álvarez haven’t yet gotten into spring training games for the Astros, but it doesn’t seem there’s much cause for concern. Bregman “tweaked” his hamstring and is taking things slowly, notes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The 26-year-old would be playing through the soreness if it were the regular season, he says. Álvarez is a little further from game action, per manager Dusty Baker (via McTaggart), although that seems to be mere caution after the young slugger underwent season-ending surgery on both knees last August.
- Jed Lowrie is seeing action in simulated games but has not yet been cleared to play in spring training games, Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). The former All-Star second baseman is back in A’s camp as a non-roster invitee after a two-year stint with the Mets that was ruined by injuries, most recently continued trouble with his left knee. Lowrie has taken just eight MLB place appearances since leaving Oakland after a stellar 2018 season.
- Yankees right-hander Luis Severino continues to progress “really well” from his February 2020 Tommy John surgery, general manager Brian Cashman said this afternoon (via Erik Boland of Newsday). Severino had already moved to a long toss routine and soon should be able to throw off a mound, Cashman said. One of the best pitchers in the league from 2017-18, Severino has been limited to just 12 innings over the past two seasons by injury. His return would be a boon to a New York rotation that is high on upside but has plenty of risk behind ace Gerrit Cole.
Quick Hits: JBJ, Mets, Ohtani, Yankees
The Mets were connected to free-agent center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. earlier in the offseason, but the two sides did not come close to an agreement, Andy Martino of SNY.tv writes. The club has agreed to sign fellow center fielders Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. in recent days, and now the chances of it adding Bradley are “practically nonexistent,” according to Martino. If true, that eliminates one logical suitor for Bradley, a longtime member of the Red Sox and one of the top free agents remaining on the market.
- Angels right-hander/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani threw a 27-pitch bullpen session Thursday, and his velocity topped out at 90 mph, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Ohtani, who’s coming off a season limited by a right flexor strain, averaged a little over 93 mph on his heater from 2018-20, but he’s not concerned about his early camp velocity drop. “It was my first bullpen, so I’m not too worried about the velo,” Ohtani said (via Fletcher). Ohtani’s arm problems (including September 2019 Tommy John surgery) limited him to just 1 2/3 innings of pitching over the previous two seasons, but the hope is that he’ll re-emerge this year as an important member of the Angels’ rotation.
- Yankees righty Luis Severino is throwing from 120 feet and could return to the mound in the next few weeks, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Severino was one of the elite pitchers in the game from 2017-18, but injuries have cut him down since then. He threw only 12 innings in 2019 because of shoulder issues and then didn’t pitch at all last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. But if he bounces back this year, Severino and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole could comprise one of the best one-two punches of any rotation in baseball.
- More on the Yankees, who do have interest in re-signing free-agent outfielder Brett Gardner, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It’s “likely” the Yankees would keep him in the vicinity of $3MM, Heyman relays. As of last week, though, the career-long Yankee, 37, and the club reportedly hadn’t engaged in any contract negotiations.
Examining The Yankees’ 2021 Payroll Situation
The Yankees 2020 season was a success by most measures – except for the 2nd-place finish behind Tampa Bay. The Rays took them out in the postseason as well, which was particularly galling with a payroll that (for a full season) floated around $265MM. The Rays, by contrast, fielded a payroll of around $73MM. As opposed to the old days, when the Yankees division rivalry with the Red Sox might prompt a spending spree to put them over the top, the Rays pose a new kind of threat. The Yankees cannot delude themselves into thinking their loss in 2020 has anything at all to do with money. The Yankees have to explore the possibility of doing more with less.
If there’s a model for the Yankees to mimic, it’s the Dodgers more so than the Rays. Though, considering that Andrew Friedman – the architect of these Dodgers – came from the Rays, one could argue that modeling oneself after the Dodgers is mimicking the Rays. The Yankees – lest we forget – are no slouches themselves when it comes to roster construction. Besides, it’s not any easier to become the Rays overnight than it is to become the Yankees overnight. Still, signs point to the Yankees facing a dramatic cut in payroll, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Sherman suggests the Yankees will want to steer clear of exceeding the $210MM luxury tax line, which means taking a significant step back payroll-wise. Making it easier for GM Brian Cashman will be a whole slew of contracts coming off the books: James Paxton ($12.5MM), Masahiro Tanaka ($23MM), DJ LeMahieu ($12MM), J.A. Happ ($17MM), Jacoby Ellsbury ($5MM), and Brett Gardner ($7.5MM).
Taking into account potential arbitration raises, Sherman pegs the Yankees current 2021 payroll to be around $171MM, which leaves probably a little more than $30MM in payroll space if the Yankees do intend to stay south of the luxury tax line. Non-tendering or trading Gary Sanchez would save $5MM, but they would need to fill his roster spot in that case.
Otherwise, they need a middle infielder – or to bring LeMahieu back. If LeMeahieu leaves, they could explore the possibility of finding a glove-first shortstop to shore up the defense while moving Gleyber Torres to second. While it’s not fun to consider the possibility of losing LeMahieu, they could probably withstand his departure, especially with Clint Frazier looking like a viable starting outfielder. Not to diminish LeMahieu’s importance – he is the batting champ, after all – but the Yankees would otherwise return most of a crew that scored the 4th-most runs in the majors in 2020.
As much as the Yankees like LeMahieu, they have greater need in the rotation – and the money crunch is real. If Tanaka were to, say, accept a qualifying offer, their available money gets cut in half pretty quickly. LeMahieu, meanwhile, is looking at a contract that nets him $20MM per season, if MLBTR readers are to be believed.
Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Deivi Garcia, Jordan Montgomery, Clarke Schmidt, and Domingo German provides manager Aaron Boone with a better group of rotation arms than many teams have, but they’re largely unproven (or coming off lost seasons in the case of Severino/German). Especially returning to a full 162-game season, depth is key in the rotation, a lesson Yankees’ fans know well. Without any additions, the Yankees would lean heavily on Cole for the second consecutive season. As good as he was this year, he can’t win a pennant all his own.
All that said, there could be some real bargains on the free agent market this winter. It’s an offseason unlike any we’ve ever seen before. With teams planning to cut payroll almost across the board because of the revenue losses caused by the pandemic, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific club that’s definitely going to spend big money. New York could explore moving some of their committed money – like the $13MM owed to Zack Britton and his 1.89 ERA in his final season on the books – but again, given the revenue losses all across baseball, there aren’t likely to be a lot of places to dump payroll.
Latest On Luis Severino, Yankees’ Rotation
The Yankees have gone through most of the past two seasons without one of their best players, right-hander Luis Severino. After emerging as an ace-caliber starter from 2017-18, Severino logged just 12 innings in 2019 because of shoulder surgery. The hope was that Severino would return to health this past year, but the Tommy John procedure he underwent in February wiped out the chances of that. He missed the entire season as a result.
As someone who’s still just 26 years old, the Yankees are no doubt hopeful that the hard-throwing Severino will return to form next season. However, they’ll have to make do without Severino when the campaign opens, as general manager Brian Cashman told James Wagner of the New York Times and other reporters on Wednesday that the hurler won’t return until June or July.
Another Severino-less rotation, even if only for a couple of months, would leave the Yankees with Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt among the in-house possibilities for their staff (Cole’s obviously a lock). They’re currently slated to lose Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ to free agency, while Domingo German‘s future is uncertain after he missed all of 2020 because of a domestic violence suspension. Though German has been reinstated by MLB, the Yankees have not had “access” to him yet because of COVID protocols, per the Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (via Twitter).
Cashman spoke about the rotation Wednesday, saying that it “needs to get improved upon,” per Marc Carig of The Athletic. Notably, aside from the aforementioned pending free agents from New York, the market will include the likes of top option Trevor Bauer, Kevin Gausman, Marcus Stroman, Jose Quintana, and Jake Odorizzi. The Rangers’ Lance Lynn, a former Yankee, figures to be near the forefront of the trade market. Don’t be surprised to see the Yankees explore the Lynn or other options in the trade market to build out their rotation depth. Given the success of the Rays this season, the Yankees figure to enter 2021 with an appropriate amount of urgency – and that means having depth ready for action.
Yankees Sign Matt Duffy, Re-Sign Dan Otero, Place Luis Severino On 60-Day IL
The Yankees announced their 60-player Spring Training player pool earlier today, a list that included a couple of new faces to the organization. New York announced that infielder Matt Duffy and catcher Max McDowell were signed to minor league contracts, while righty Dan Otero was released from his previous minors deal with the club and re-signed to a new pact. In addition, right-hander Luis Severino was officially placed on the 60-day injured list in the wake of his Tommy John surgery last February.
Duffy was most recently a member of the Rangers organization, though Texas announced earlier today that Duffy had been released. It didn’t take him long to catch on with another team, as Duffy will now return to the AL East in the pinstripes after spending the last four seasons with the Rays.
Acquired in the 2016 trade that saw Matt Moore go from Tampa to San Francisco, the Rays had hopes that Duffy would become an everyday infielder, though Duffy was plagued by injuries. Duffy did manage a solid .294/.361/.366 slash line over 560 PA and 132 games for Tampa Bay in 2018, though that performance was sandwiched between missing the entire 2017 season and only 46 games played in 2019. Duffy has worked mostly as a third baseman, though he has enough experience at second base and shortstop that could provide utility depth for the Yankees if he cracks the MLB roster.
McDowell joins the Yankees after spending his five pro seasons with the Brewers, who selected him in the 13th round of the 2015 draft. McDowell has hit .232/.335/.323 over 1417 career plate appearances in the minors.
It’s safe to assume that Otero’s new deal overwrites some type of opt-out clause in his previous minor league pact, signed back in early February. The 35-year-old groundball specialist is looking to bounce back from a pair of shaky seasons in Cleveland’s bullpen, as Otero had a lot of trouble with home runs (1.8 HR/9) when batters did manage to get the ball in the air against him. Otero’s 5.09 ERA in 88 1/3 innings over the last two seasons stands in sharp contrast to his 2016-17 numbers — a 2.14 ERA, 5.00 K/BB rate, and 6.5 K/9 over 130 2/3 frames for the Tribe.