Mom, Karen, John and I went to the Orioles game last night. We won 6 to 5. It was one of the coldest Orioles games I've ever been to.
From the New York Time's Mike Wallace
BALTIMORE — Luis Severino’s fall from grace between his excellent rookie season of 2015 and his dispiriting sophomore year of 2016 was shocking. His fall from the mound in the fourth inning at Camden Yards Friday night was merely frightening, and only for a moment.
It was what happened an inning later that was unmistakably alarming.
Severino, who showed such promise as a rookie starter two years ago that many in the Yankees’ organization projected him as a future ace, displayed a flash of that ability for the first four innings of his start against the Baltimore Orioles, after which he enjoyed a 5-1 lead. He had retired seven straight Orioles and had struck out Adam Jones and Manny Machado in succession in the third.
Then came the fifth, and a two-out walk followed by a fastball to Machado that became a laser beam into the left-field stands, a three-run homer that turned an easy game into a nail-biter.
“I tip my hat to Machado, he hit a good pitch right there,” Severino said. “Maybe in a different game, it’s a groundout or a swing and a miss. It’s not going to happen every time.”
But what has been happening, seemingly every time, for Severino, is this: Another start, another Yankees loss. Including 11 starts last season, in which the Yankees lost nine and Severino lost eight, he has not won a game he started since Sept. 27, 2015.
To that point, Severino had been cruising along thanks to a two-run homer by Matt Holliday in the third and another by Gary Sanchez in the fifth. Severino had limited the Orioles’ lineup to four hits, two of them infield singles, and had struck out four on off-speed pitches after setting up hitters with his 97-mile-per-hour fastball. He appeared to be in command.
He even seemed to be on his way to an escape in the fifth after striking out J. J. Hardy and getting Smith to pop out following Jonathan Schoop’s leadoff bloop single. But he walked Jones before grooving the fastball to Machado that turned his first outing of the season from promising to slightly disturbing.
“I think the first thing we need to see is fastball command,” Girardi said before the game. “If he has that, I believe, he can get deep into games. And that is what we continue to stress during spring training to him, pitching down in the zone. You can elevate from time to time, but if you live up between the thighs and the waist, you’re going to get hit hard.”
The pitch Machado hit was knee-high, right down the middle.
The difference between the 2015 edition of Severino and its 2016 counterpart was significant; but the difference between Severino the starter and Severino the reliever last season could only be described as startling.
As a rookie called up from Class AAA at the 2015 trade deadline, Severino went 5-3 with a 2.89 E.R.A., impressing teammates and opponents alike with his 97-m.p.h. fastball and uncommon poise for a 21-year-old. The drop-off in his performance last season, when he went 3-8 with a 5.83 E.R.A. in 22 appearances, told only part of the story.
Working out of the bullpen late in the season, Severino went 3-0 with a 0.39 E.R.A. and held opposing hitters to a .105 batting average in 11 appearances. As a starter, Severino went 0-8 with an 8.50 E.R.A. Opponents hit .337 against him in his 11 starts.
Still, Girardi said the Yankees’ front office never gave any serious consideration to converting Severino from starter to reliever in the off-season.
“Well, I think if you had went through this for a couple years, you would seriously consider that,” Girardi said. “But we have to remember how young he is. I think it’s a growing process and I think it’s way too early in his career to decide that.”
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