Luis Severino Needs Tommy John Surgery And Will Miss The Entire 2020 Season

I am going to be sick. My stomach is in shambles. Forearm tightness coupled with loose bodies in the elbow were certainly horrible signs of things to come. The fact that this was the same injury from October was certainly a red flag. Severino went through a battery of tests over the last few days and they discovered the worst, a partial torn UCL. The three worst words in baseball: Tommy John surgery. 

It's brutal news this early in the season, but I'm not worried about this team at all. I know the initial reaction is panic, but my heart rate has come back down since the news first hit the waves. Flash back to last year for me if you will. How many games did the Yankees win? 103. How many did Severino pitch in? Three. He threw 12 innings total. Who did the Yankees add in the offseason? Gerrit Cole, the best pitcher in baseball. This team will be totally fine. James Paxton is going to start throwing in a week, Domingo German will be back in the summer, and they have an arsenal of young arms ready for their shot in Jordan Montgomery, Mike King, Clarke Schmidt, and Deivi Garcia. All four of those pitchers can impact the team right now. Factor in the return of Paxton and German in a few months and this rotation will be completely fine with Gerrit Cole and Tanaka at the helm. Who knows? Maybe JA Happ feeds off his strong finish to 2019 and uses Matt Blake's expertise to up his level. Imagine telling yourself back in October that it's a great thing the Yankees didn't trade JA Happ? He's the number 3 starter right now. 

I'm not worried about the team, but I really feed bad for Severino. After a completely lost 2019 season as he battled through an assortment of injuries, Severino now loses 2020 and part of 2021. He'll be 27 years old when he returns next season so his career is by no means over, but these are precious prime years of his career that are being wasted. He's one of the more talented pitchers in baseball and it sucks we'll have to go another year without him. At least he was able to sign his four year deal for $40 million when he did and got some guaranteed money before hitting free agency. He could definitely still come back and be dominant, but there's a lot of unknown right now for sure. Goddam this sucks. 

Please bubble wrap Gerrit Cole right fucking now. Imagine being him right now? Your first few days in Yankees Spring Training camp and you get this news? Fucking wild. When he signed with the Yankees he said "pressure is a privilege." Well, here's your pressure, Gerrit. You need to carry this rotation and be the leader of the staff the entire season. I think he's the perfect guy for the job. Only time will tell. 

P.S. Frankie Borrelli actually ruined Luis Severino's career.