Just this week the New York Yankees announced that their star starting pitcher, Luis Severino, will undergo Tommy John surgery. This procedure will result in the hard throwing right hander will miss at least the entire 2020 Major League Baseball season. He may be sidelined for up to the beginning of the 2021 MLB season, but that all depends on the progress he makes while rehabbing his right elbow throughout his recovery from the surgery.

The Injury and Surgery Details:

The two time MLB All Star has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He will have the Tommy John surgical procedure to repair this injury on Thursday, February 27th, 2020. Dr. David Altchek is the New York Mets medical director, and he will be the one to perform the operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, New York.

Apparently Severino has been suffering with discomfort in his right forearm which began during game 3 of the 2019 American League Championship Series of the MLB postseason. The general manager of the New York Yankees, Brian Cashman, revealed that Luis had received an MRI last December and another one last January followed up with a CT scan as well.

All these medical tests yielded negative results. On Tuesday, February 25th, 2020 he underwent a dye contrast MRI which revealed the ulnar collateral ligament was partially torn, and this test was enough for the Yankees and Severino to decide that the Tommy John surgery was the best option for the pitcher moving forward.

The Other Starting Pitchers the Yankees will be Missing:

New York will have to begin the 2020 Major League Baseball regular season without the services of two other starting pitchers in their rotation. The left hander James Paxton will be sidelined from game action at the very least through the month of April. He is recovering from an operation that removed a cyst on top of a microscopic lumbar surgery.

The other starting pitcher that is currently going to be missing from the Yankees roster for the beginning of the 2020 MLB season in Domingo German. This right hander was suspended last year for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. At the moment he has to serve the remaining 63 games of his 81 game suspension handed down by the MLB. As long as there are no other postponements, he will be eligible to return to the Yankees roster as of Friday, June 5th, 2020.

The New York Yankees’ Starting Pitching Rotation:  

The Yankees are the early favorites to win the highly competitive American League East division. They made headlines this offseason by signing the biggest free agent and arguably the best pitcher in the major leagues in ace Garrett Cole. He should definitely help New York in the absence of Severino.

They will also rely on the arms of Masahiro Tanaka as well as J.A. Happ as they start the season without Severino, Paxton, and German. There are now presently two open starting pitching roles that will need to be filled.

The New York Yankees will most likely look to their left handed starter Jordan Montgomery who returned from Tommy John surgery last September. He is throwing around 94 miles per hour, and is a leading candidate to fill a starting pitching spot in the Yankees rotation.

Other possibilities include Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa, along with their two promising rookies Deivi Garcia and Michael King. Only time will tell how New York decides to fill the last two remaining spots of their starting pitching rotation. It may be a combination of all of the above until they see which players work out best early on during the beginning of the 2020 MLB regular season.

The Yankees could always try to acquire another established big league starting pitcher through free agency or trade. There are various options available through those avenues, and we all know that the Yankees have the money and assets to make it happen.

Severino’s Career MLB Regular Season Statistics:

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Awards
2015 21 NYY AL 5 3 .625 2.89 11 11 0 0 0 0 62.1 53 21 20 9 22 0 56 2 1 2 255 141 4.37 1.203 7.7 1.3 3.2 8.1 2.55
2016 22 NYY AL 3 8 .273 5.83 22 11 3 0 0 0 71.0 78 48 46 11 25 1 66 3 0 3 312 74 4.48 1.451 9.9 1.4 3.2 8.4 2.64
2017 23 NYY AL 14 6 .700 2.98 31 31 0 0 0 0 193.1 150 73 64 21 51 0 230 6 0 6 783 152 3.08 1.040 7.0 1.0 2.4 10.7 4.51 AS,CYA-3
2018 24 NYY AL 19 8 .704 3.39 32 32 0 1 1 0 191.1 173 76 72 19 46 0 220 5 0 8 780 124 2.95 1.145 8.1 0.9 2.2 10.3 4.78 AS,CYA-9
2019 25 NYY AL 1 1 .500 1.50 3 3 0 0 0 0 12.0 6 2 2 0 6 0 17 1 0 0 48 304 2.13 1.000 4.5 0.0 4.5 12.8 2.83
5 Yrs 42 26 .618 3.46 99 88 3 1 1 0 530.0 460 220 204 60 150 1 589 17 1 19 2178 125 3.35 1.151 7.8 1.0 2.5 10.0 3.93
162 Game Avg. 15 9 .618 3.46 36 32 1 0 0 0 193  167 80 74 22 55 0 214 6 0 7 792 125 3.35 1.151 7.8 1.0 2.5 10.0 3.93

Severino’s Career MLB Playoff Statistics

Year Age Tm Lg Series Rslt Opp W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W WPA
2017 23 NYY AL ALWC W MIN 0 0 81.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 15.000 108.0 54.0 27.0 0.0 0.00 -0.31
2017 23 NYY AL ALDS W CLE 1 0 1.000 3.86 1 1 0 0 0 0 7.0 4 3 3 2 1 0 9 0 0 0 26 0.714 5.1 2.6 1.3 11.6 9.00 0.14
2017 23 NYY AL ALCS L HOU 0 1 .000 4.15 2 2 0 0 0 0 8.2 5 4 4 1 6 0 3 0 0 0 36 1.269 5.2 1.0 6.2 3.1 0.50 -0.04
2018 24 NYY AL ALWC W OAK 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 2 0 0 0 4 0 7 0 0 0 19 1.500 4.5 0.0 9.0 15.8 1.75 0.08
2018 24 NYY AL ALDS L BOS 0 1 .000 18.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 3.0 7 6 6 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 18 3.000 21.0 0.0 6.0 6.0 1.00 -0.25
2019 25 NYY AL ALDS W MIN 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.0 4 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 17 1.500 9.0 0.0 4.5 9.0 2.00 0.23
2019 25 NYY AL ALCS L HOU 0 1 .000 4.15 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.1 5 2 2 2 3 0 6 0 0 0 22 1.846 10.4 4.2 6.2 12.5 2.00 -0.04
3 Yrs (7 Series) 1 3 .250 5.17 8 8 0 0 0 0 31.1 31 18 18 7 19 0 31 0 0 0 144 1.596 8.9 2.0 5.5 8.9 1.63 -0.18
2 ALWC 0 0 6.23 2 2 0 0 0 0 4.1 6 3 3 2 5 0 7 0 0 0 25 2.538 12.5 4.2 10.4 14.5 1.40 -0.23
3 ALDS 1 1 .500 5.79 3 3 0 0 0 0 14.0 15 9 9 2 5 0 15 0 0 0 61 1.429 9.6 1.3 3.2 9.6 3.00 0.13
2 ALCS 0 2 .000 4.15 3 3 0 0 0 0 13.0 10 6 6 3 9 0 9 0 0 0 58 1.462 6.9 2.1 6.2 6.2 1.00 -0.08

Media Statements:

Luis Severino tweeted: “After much consideration, as well as consultation with the Yankees organization, my family, and my representatives, I have elected to adhere to the advice of the medical professionals and undergo surgery to repair my injured elbow. 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. Thank you to everyone that has reached out during this tough time. My family and I deeply appreciate the kind words and well wishes we have received. Through the long road ahead your continued support means the world to me. I will be back on the mound soon to help bring a championship back to the Bronx!”

“I don’t want to sugarcoat the fact that being without Sevy, that’s a blow, but it doesn’t change our expectations and what we’re truly capable of,” says the manager of the New York Yankees Aaron Boone. “So, no, nothing changes.”

“We’re always constantly looking for upgrades anyway,” the New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stated. “But this time of year you always look from within and see and give opportunities for what you have and typically that’s how it shakes out, especially until after the June draft regardless, so you keep relying on depth. So wouldn’t say expect any domino effect or cause and effect in terms of us being able to go to marketplace where a marketplace this time of year typically doesn’t exist.”

“Sevy has acknowledged and agreed the surgery is necessary,” Cashman explained.

“My immediate reaction is just kind of feeling for him, wanting to check in with him and seeing how he’s feeling,” Boone proclaimed. “Obviously, it’s losing a great pitcher, but we’ll manage it. We’ll figure it out and just try and support Sevy right now.”

“My gut is, it’s something that dates back to when he started feeling something [during the ALCS],” Cashman expressed. “The prior MRIs had no problem, and the point of injury was not around the ligament. Our athletic trainers, our physical therapists and the orthopedics who examined him both in Tampa and New York could not produce anything that showed the ligament issue in any shape or form [until Tuesday].”

“It’s crazy how we’re getting hit by the injury bug again,” says the New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit. “I feel for Sevy. That sucks, because he [rehabbed] all last year, too. I hope it’s a speedy recovery.”

“I’m sure he’s just devastated to find the news that he’s going to have to spend another season out,” the New York Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka goes on to say. “I think as a team, we’re all just really feeling for him right now.”

“We’re certainly hopeful that we have a lot of hungry, talented personnel wanting to make a name for themselves or continue their journey,” Cashman explained. “Losing high-caliber players like Paxton or Sevy is going to provide that lane or that opportunity for someone to step up and take. We’ll play this spring out and see what it looks like.”