Luis Severino throwing well, but won't replace Ivan Nova
Luis Severino is on the comeback trail after injury and a poor start to the season with a good start in the minors. With a start of 0-6 to the season before a right triceps injury, Severino was demoted following his DL stint. He as since then begun to show signs of improvements in an attempt to climb back to the majors. In five minor league starts, the flamethrowing righty is off to a 3-0 start with a 2.25 ERA in 28 innings. His command has been better as well, striking out 26 batters and limiting his walks to eight However, a small sample size in the minors from Severino has not been enough to warrant a call-up to the majors to replace a struggling Ivan Nova. Yankees skipper Joe Girardi wants to see more from Severino before he is called up. "The location of his fastball has not been great," said Girardi via the New York Daily News. "His changeup has not been as effective as we need it to be and his slider has been inconsistent." There have been positives with Severino's command, but the organization does not want to rush him back to the majors before he has yet to find his best pitches. "We don't want to just bring him up because maybe another guy is struggling," said Girardi. "You've got to make pitches here." With Severino hashing out his command in the minors, Ivan Nova has spent time in the rotation. On the season Nova is 5-5 with a 5.18 ERA in nine starts. He has thrown 64 innings on the year but has allowed 76 hits. Severino started the year with the Big League club before his injury and struggled to get outs. He is 0-6 in seven starts, but is only 22-years-old and has time to get command of his pitches before he is called back up to the majors.