New York Yankees: Luis Severino Lands On Most Valuable Asset Rankings
New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino came in as the No.21 ranked asset in terms of value in all of the MLB on Dan Szymborski’s list.
The New York Yankees have taken a different approach to the offseason in recent years than they normally do. Anyone who follows baseball is used to seeing the Yankees being big spenders in the offseason, signing veterans and trading away potentially promising prospects for immediate results. But, their tune has changed recently as the Yankees have some solid young players coming through their farm system.
We got a glimpse of that future last season when starting pitcher Luis Severino was called up. Severino is not only one of the most exciting young Yankees to keep an eye on, he is one of the best ones in all of the major leagues. Over at ESPN, Dan Szymborski would agree.
He compiled a list of the best assets, or most team friendly contracts. Using ZiPS projections, Szymborski calculated the difference between the projected long-term performance of every player in baseball, and how much a team is projected to pay for that performance, whether from a signed contract or from predicting arbitration-year salaries.
Part of the process also included personal judgement, as the ZiPS projections were used as a baseline to help. Severino came in at 21st overall on the list, and was the sixth overall pitcher. Severino had a strong season in the minor leagues, and was able to continue that success at the major league level despite being throw right into a playoff race. It was a risky move for the Yankees, but one that paid off as Severino’s performance helped get the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game.
Here is what Szymborski had to say about the talented Yankees youngster:
"Times are strange in New York, as the Yankees didn’t sign any notable free agents this offseason. Even stranger is that despite some big contracts in the rotation, due to some injury questions, the Yankees’ most dependable starting pitcher may be Severino, the pitcher making league minimum with 11 career starts in the majors. But those 11 starts were a key factor in getting the Yankees into the wild-card game.Severino’s 4.37 FIP wasn’t as impressive as his 2.89 ERA, but that should also improve considerably given he was a 21-year-old who started the season in Double-A and was thrown directly into a pennant race."
Severino may not be imposing in stature, standing only 6-feet tall and weighing 195 pounds, but he can bring it on the mound. He averages nearly 96 MPH on his fastball that he combines with a slider/cutter combination pitch and a change up as well. His stuff is electric, and as he develops those pitches will become even better.
Despite being the youngest player the Yankees will have in their starting rotation, Severino comes with the least amount of question marks. Everyone else they will be relying on to start games has some sort of red flags, ranging from health, with Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi, production with Ivan Nova or off the field issues with C.C. Sabathia. Severino does not have a red flag in any of those areas, and could blossom into the leader of the rotation despite it being his first full season in the major leagues.
In his 11 starts, Severino compiled a record of 5-3 with an ERA of 2.89 and WHIP of 1.20. He also struck out 56 batters in 62 1/3 innings. In eight of those 11 starts Severino surrendered two or less earned runs; he gave up three runs twice, once against the Toronto Blue Jays and once against the Baltimore Orioles. The last game he gave up more than two runs in against was also against the high-powered Blue Jays, as he gave up a career-worst six runs.
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Severino is a big part of the Yankees starting rotation and will be relied upon heavily in 2016. He has the looks of a front of the rotation starter, something the Yankees are hoping he continues blossoming into this season as he gains more experience at the major league level.