10:40am: Not only are Severino and Stanton on the verge of a return, it seems that left-hander Jordan Montgomery and righty Dellin Betances could be back in the same general timeframe. Montgomery could start things off in a bullpen game for the Yankees in Toronto on Sunday (Twitter link via Newsday’s Erik Boland), while Hoch tweets that Betances will pitch once more for Trenton tomorrow and could be added to the Major League roster after that outing.
10:22am: After missing nearly the entire season due to shoulder and lat injuries, Yankees ace Luis Severino is expected to return from the injured list and start Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Yankee Stadium, manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters this morning (Twitter links via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). That on its own is good news, but Boone added that Giancarlo Stanton could rejoin the roster at the start of that homestand as well, meaning he could be in the lineup Tuesday as well.
A healthy Severino would be a welcome reprieve for a beleaguered Yankees rotation that has stumbled throughout the second half of the season. Since the All-Star break, Yankees starters have posted a collective 5.25 ERA and averaged fewer than five innings per outing. Those shortcomings have done nothing to endanger New York’s overwhelming lead in the American League East, but such difficulties among their starting staff are no doubt a concern with the postseason looming. Adding a healthy Severino into the fray could be a substantial boost not only for the final two weeks of the regular season but also to the team’s outlook in the American League Division Series.
The Yankees have been relying primarily on the quintet of Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Domingo German, J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia to make their starts, but Paxton (3.90) and German (4.90) are the only members of the bunch with a sub-5.00 ERA since the All-Star break. Happ has rattled off a string of solid starts and could be rounding into form late in the year, but the Yankees’ rotation has generally been a weak point. A strong bullpen and overwhelming offensive attack have paved their road to success.
As for Stanton, it’s clear that scoring runs hasn’t been an issue for the Yankees this season. Staying healthy, however, has. Stanton is a major part of that, but he could rejoin the lineup at an opportune time. The Yankees just lost out-of-the-blue breakout outfielder Mike Tauchman for the rest of the season, and Aaron Hicks could be down for the rest of the year as well. Luke Voit, meanwhile, hasn’t hit much since returning from the injured list.
Stanton has only managed to appear in nine games for the Yankees this year, first going down with a biceps strain that sidelined him for two months and then spraining his knee in just his sixth game back from that first injury. His injury-shortened campaign has caused some Yankees fans to sour on him, but Stanton was plenty dangerous in his Yankees debut in 2018, hitting .266/.343/.509 with 38 big flies and 34 doubles in 158 games (705 plate appearances). Adding him back into the late-season and playoff picture would be bad news for whichever postseason opponent lines up against the Yanks.
The scary part for the rest of the MLB is that the Yankees have the best record, without Severino and Betances throwing a pitch all year. Stanton’s played 9 games. Current Yankees are good, healthy Yankees are a ****ing nightmare!
That may be true, but even still they seem to lack pitching. For instance, how does a team manage to give up 12 runs to the Tigers?
Did you take the time to see exactly who did pitch for the Yankees in that game or just going by the score?
Every dog has his day!
Except you’re dayless!
Well, for one thing, several teams have surrendered 10 runs or more to the Tigers this year, including the Twins, Angels, Royals (2x) and White Sox (3x). Even lousy teams score runs in bunches once in a while, especially with the ball being so prone to leave the ballpark this season.
For another, Boone managed that game as though he almost didn’t want to win. Nestor Cortes and his ERA over 5.00 started and gave up 4 runs (2 earned) in 2+ IP. Other non-playoff roster pitchers followed including Luis Cessa, Cory Gearrin, Jonathan Loaisiga and Ryan Dull. Those last three just joined the team a few weeks ago, one after an injury stint, the other two after having been waived by their former teams.
The offense also included a lot of second-stringers. (Tyler Wade, Clint Frazier and Mike Ford started. Judge and LeMahieu never entered the game, Voit only as a PH.) Though there was only one official Error, the dropped double play ball and other miscues led to 5 unearned runs, the most the team has given up in a game since April 10th. Of 2018. This was not a typical Yankee game.
When the Yankees tied it up and went ahead, Boone used Ottavino and Britton in the 7th and 8th, but then with the game tied again in the 9th, Boone called not on Chapman or Kahnle or Green, but on Chance Adams. Adams now has 14 total appearances in his MLB career and has given up at least one run in 11 of them. Clearly, this game was not that important to Boone.
Thats a fair assessment, it certainly was odd how boonr managed that game
The Yankees have lived by a hard and fast rule all season, no pitcher throws 3 days in a row, EVER.
It kept the bullpen healthy despite the massive injury bug that’s not the team. Probably had something to do with it
The same way the Astros gave up 15 runs to the A’s.
@RiseAgainst3598
The Yanks have always had good enough pitching. The problem was they were either injured or playing way below the level they pitched in 2018.
But all it takes is for a couple of guys to get hot and go on a roll.
In the last 28 days Happ has had a 3.38 ERA in his last 4 starts against Oak, Sea and Boston. Paxton has a 5-0 record in his last 5 starts with a 2.37 ERA against Dodgers, Sea, Boston and Tex, Tanaka has been slightly better in his last 5 starts with a 3.99 ERA vs the Cleveland, Oakland, Tex, Sea and Boston.
Unfortunately, German hasn’t been very good the last 28 days with an ERA of 5.66 mostly because of two poorly pitched games vs Oakland and Boston.
But if the Yanks can get 3 pitchers to pitch up to their level coupled with the bullpen and offense then I think we can win.. During the 1996-2001 span the Yanks trotted out a SP staff with a 4.40 ERA/4.30 FIP so it’s been done before.
The only nightmare that concerns me is the potential one if they’ve brought either back too soon; worse if both.
You can tell someone “ease back into things” non-stop but most will have that competitor’s determination and give everything they can on the field.
As I posted when Sev was put on IL:
I’d prefer they not bring him back this season no matter how the team’s season ends
yeah I know I’m in the minority with that stance … and by no stretch anything close to having a medical background …. but I’d prefer him 100% next season and beyond than take even the slightest chance risking his future by bringing him back this season for a playoff push
It’s probably not realistic to expect any of these guys to contribute much of anything the year. There just isn’t enough time for them to tune-up and be ready at this point.
Sure you can ask for better than a 5.25 ERA but expecting more than 5 starts per outing is just being unreasonable.
Ha, thanks for that. Fixed.
It should be 5 innings per start, not 5 starts per outing.
Yeah — as noted in the comment above, already fixed. If you’re reading in the app, it does take a few minutes for the changes to render, whereas they’re instant on desktop or mobile web. At any rate, thanks for the heads up. Appreciate it.
I find it funny how they can suddenly be healthy in time for the postseason. smells like fraud somewhere. this world series sounds like it will be fixed.
Everyone collectively rolled their eyes at this comment
I see a lot of stupid comments on this site but this one might just take the cake
Just like Hank Williams Jr you sir are a conspiracy theorist.
I just hope they can shake off the rust in time for the playoffs. I don’t care is Sevy/Betances/Montgomery all get battered around in the few games they play this season as long as they are right for the postseason.
Likewise I don’t care if Stanton strikes out every at bat in the games he plays this season as long as the bats right for October.
If any of them are off then the Yanks need to be smart and pull them/not start them in the postseason
Oh, Stanton will strike out a lot alright. You can take that one to the bank.
Hey Bernie-you can take the Mets tipping your heart out to the bank.
I’m excited to see Montgomery pitch again. He looks like a solid #3 type. If he can show something good in the next few weeks he would have to be considered for a SP spot going into spring training I would think.
knowing Severino, he’ll show up 15 minutes late
Luke Voit is hitting almost his exact season numbers after the injury.