BRONX, N.Y. — The New York Yankees seemingly can’t catch a break. The latest news on Luis Severino and his forearm being case in point.
Severino made his Bronx debut in 2015 but he essentially has two full seasons under his belt in the bigs. Not to go into full overreaction mode but this seems to be a trend with homegrown Yankee pitchers breaking into the bigs after Andy Pettitte in 1995.
Guys either translate better the bullpen, break down or wash out and it’s baffling.
Chien-Ming Wang had two-plus solid seasons and was second in AL Cy Young voting in 2006. Yet, running the bases in Houston in 2008, Wang was injured and never the same.
In fairness, these next three weren’t exactly handled the greatest in their development.
Phil Hughes was lights out in the bullpen in 2009 and was an All-Star in 2010. Hughes had mixed results in the next few seasons and was out of the Bronx by 2014. After being a witch out of the bullpen in 2007, Joba Chamberlain was a human yo-yo from the bullpen to the rotation. The “Joba Rules” made for a nice t-shirt but following 2009 he was out of the rotation and as injuries added up he was out of the Bronx by 2014 as well. Ian Kennedy never won the confidence of Joe Girardi and dealt with injuries. Following the Curtis Granderson trade, Kennedy carved out a respectable career as a starter until serving as Kansas City Royals closer in 2019.
Ivan Nova looked like he had a chance to make waves after finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2011. Yet, injuries and inconsistencies had him traded out of the Bronx by 2016.
Then you had guys like David Phelps and Adam Warren, both of whom translated better to the bullpen. Another guy who translated better to the bullpen was Dellin Betances. At least Betances made an All-Star career out of his setup role, unlike fellow “Killer B’s,” Manny Banuelos and Andrew Brackman, both of whom essentially flamed out. Chad Green has more or less followed the Betances path as well. Heck, you could go all the way back to Ramiro Mendoza, who had a hard time cracking the starting rotation and was ultimately a victim of his own success in becoming a bullpen swingman.
Another pitcher you hope doesn’t join Severino in this discussion is Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery was sixth in the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year voting and looked like a future staple in the rotation. After basically two years out of baseball with injuries, now Montgomery is battling to stick in the rotation and rebuild his stock in 2020.
Then you have the stupidity of a guy who looked like he was on the rise in Domingo German in 2019, before being suspended for domestic violence.
Yes, there have been guys with their moments in the bigs who were sent packing in solid trades, Sterling Hitchcock in the Tino Martinez deal, Eric Milton in the Chuck Knoblauch trade, Shane Greene for Didi Gregorius.
No, not every prospect pans out, from Brien Taylor to Chance Adams and everyone in between.
Granted it’s only Feb. and Severino should bounce back, yet it has become an alarming trend where guys rise and fall in a New York minute.
