Luis Severino has Tommy John surgery, out for 2020 season

New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday, the Yankees revealed. His 2020 season is over before it even started. The Yankees added that Severino had an existing bone chip removed from his elbow during the procedure.

GM Brian Cashman announced earlier this spring that Severino, who was limited to three regular-season appearances in 2019, had dealt with forearm soreness dating back to October, when he made a pair of postseason starts for the Yankees.

The team shut down Severino last week after he went through his normal throwing program to start spring training.

“[Severino] has acknowledged and agreed that the surgery is necessary,” Cashman informed reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, on Tuesday.

The loss of Severino is a major one for Aaron Boone’s team. The 26-year-old has proven to be a high-grade starter when healthy. In 99 career appearances, he’s accumulated a 3.46 ERA (125 ERA+) and 3.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Unfortunately, for the Yankees, the “when healthy” caveat continues to loom large.

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The generally accepted recovery timetable for Tommy John surgery is close to 12 months. Sometimes, that can stretch further, all the way up to 18 months. The Yankees, who signed Severino to a long-term deal last spring that stretches through the 2022 season, would be wise to proceed with caution. As such, it’s possible that Severino doesn’t return until next summer.

Signing Gerrit Cole was a good call regardless, but the Yankees are probably relieved they have him to fall back on now.

Cole has tossed at least 200 innings in four of the past five seasons, and has performed at an ace-level over the last two years.

Obviously the Yankees were hoping to pair Cole with Severino at the top of their rotation, but it’s better to have one front-of-the-rotation starter than none. The Yankees have a number of internal posibilities, ranging from Jonathan Loaisiga and Michael King to Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt.

The Yankees could also turn to Luis Cessa, either as a starter or in a “bulk” capacity when paired with an opener. Additionally, the Yankees have a few veteran starters in camp on non-roster deals: Chad Bettis and Nick Tropeano among them.

There wouldn’t appear to be many external options available to the Yankees. In theory they could roll with an Andrew Cashner or a Marco Estrada, or attempt a trade for a No. 5 starter or swingman.

In reality, it might be easier to stay internal and try to stay on the rails until Paxton returns.

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