How Luis Severino went from Yankees’ back-up to the Bronx’s breakout ace

Welcome to the 2017 MLB Postseason, baseball fans! You’ve spent 162 games with your favorite team, and now it’s time to watch the teams you haven’t paid much attention to. Who are these teams, and who are their best players? We can help.

Who is Luis Severino?

Severino is a starting pitcher for the Yankees and a 2017 All-Star selection. The 23-year old made his debut with the Yankees back in 2015, starting 11 games in each of the last two seasons before graduating to a permanent role in the rotation this year, starting 31 games as New York’s fourth starter.

What did he do this year?

In 31 games started this season, Severino went 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA. He allowed only 64 earned runs and 21 home runs, and he walked 51 batters. He also posted 230 strikeouts and had an impressive WHIP of 1.040 and a FIP of 3.07 — good enough to be tied for seventh in the league with Clayton Kershaw. His ERA was eighth-best among all qualifying pitchers, and his 193.1 innings pitched is fourth in the entire league. His average fastball is, at 97.7 miles per hour, the fastest average in the league.

How did the Yankees acquire him?

New York signed Severino as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2011 for a $225,000 signing bonus. He played in the Dominican Summer League before being promoted to the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs in 2013. He moved up to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League and eventually the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2014, started 2015 with Trenton before moving to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, and eventually made his debut with the Yankees mid-season of that year after Michael Pineda was lost to injury. He spent much of 2016 in the bullpen and back in the minors.

Was he always supposed to be this good?

Before the 2014 season, Severino was the Yankees’ ninth-ranked prospect. But based on the team’s usage of him over the last two seasons, it’s fair to say that Severino wasn’t expected to be taking on such a large part of pitching responsibilities this soon. Going from “backup starter” to “one of the best in the American League” is a transition that not many pitchers are capable of making, but Severino barely blinked in the process.

tl;dr

Severino has never pitched a playoff game before in his career — literally never. He’ll pitch against the Twins in the AL Wild Card Game, and if his regular season success is anything to gauge things by he will make it very hard for them to reach base or score runs. As long as the pressure of a new situation doesn’t get to him, the Yankees will have one of the best and most reliable pitchers in the league as their fourth starter in the rotation throughout the postseason.