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Luis Severino named finalist for the AL Cy Young Award

By Roland Hope IV

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 09: Luis Severino (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 09: Luis Severino (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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After a bounce-back 2017 season, New York Yankees ace Luis Severino has been named one of the three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award.

New York Yankees 24-year-old ace Luis Severino has been voted as one of the three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award along with fellow aces Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox and Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians.

This is the first time that a Yankees pitcher has landed in the top three of the Cy Young Award nominees since 2010 when CC Sabathia went 21-7.

2017 was a great year for the young ace, whom after a rough 2016 season decided to go to his native Dominican Republic to work with the legend and fellow countryman Pedro Martinez. Clearly, the offseason work put in by Severino paid dividends as he was able to bounce back from a less than stellar 2016 where he finished 3-8 with a 5.38 ERA in 22 starts to become one of the best pitchers in baseball just a year later.

In 2017, Severino finished the season 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA, 193 innings pitched, and 230 strikeouts. In a season where the expectations were extremely low for the team, Severino was the most consistent Yankee starter. Masahiro Tanaka had an up and down year, Michael Pineda suffered a season-ending UCL injury in July, and there was a lot of uncertainty about what CC Sabathia would be able to provide for the staff at 37 years old.

A stellar first half allowed Severino to notch his first All-Star appearance where teammate Aaron Judge stole the show at the Home Run Derby, ultimately upstaging Miami Marlin slugger Giancarlo Stanton. A late-season back and forth battle with the Boston Red Sox for the AL East title showed the world that the new-look Yankees are here to stay and there will be more opportunities for the Baby Bombers to add AL East titles to the trophy room.

After falling just short of the AL East title, the Yankees looked to Severino to lead them in the AL Wild Card Game against the Minnesota Twins. Unfortunately, Severino was a far cry from his normal self, only lasting 0.1 innings, making it one of the worst postseason starts in MLB history.

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Thankfully, baseball is a game where short-term memory is needed to be effective, and in Severino’s case, it showed when he redeemed himself against the Cleveland Indians in Game 4 of the ALDS by shutting down the Indians over seven innings with nine strikeouts and allowing just four hits.

The ALCS battle between Severino and Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander looked like it was on its way to being one for the ages. Both starters effectively shut down powerful offenses, matching zeros with zeros until Severino took a comebacker off the arm from Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel, ultimately leading to Joe Girardi taking out his young star for precautionary measures.

With a shot at redemption in Game 6, Severino looked excellent, going four shutout innings until the fifth inning where he walked three batters, allowing three runs which led to him being pulled again after just four innings in a 7-1 loss.

Now that Masahiro Tanaka is opting in for the final three years of his contract and trade deadline addition Sonny Gray is still under team control to go along with Luis Severino, the Yankees have three solid arms in their rotation. CC Sabathia is a free agent and there have been several reports that there is mutual interest between the veteran lefty and the Yankees to come to an agreement on a one to two-year deal.

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The experience and ups and downs throughout the season should have a positive effect on Luis Severino as he looks to build on 2017 and have an even stronger 2018. Even in losses, Severino looked poised and showed promise that the New York Yankees will be able to count on him moving forward for more deep playoff runs to come.

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