DENVER — The Yankees hope Luis Severino used the All-Star break to his advantage.
The struggling right-hander’s chance to turn his season around begins Monday.
Severino will get the ball to open a series against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., looking to snap out of his recent skid that has left him with a 6.38 ERA across nine starts.
“Hopefully [the All-Star break] has been a good thing,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ crushing 8-7 loss to the Rockies on Sunday at Coors Field. “Again, he’s healthy and the stuff is all there. So it’s about execution. Hopefully the sides and the practice, everything, some little adjustments in the delivery will get him to that next level.”
Severino’s last two starts before the break were especially brutal, resulting in his giving up 14 earned runs across 6 ²/₃ innings against the Cardinals and Orioles.
Read Related Also: Study: Removing Carbon From the Atmosphere Won't Fix Climate Change
Boone said the Yankees have not talked about sending Severino to the minors — the pitcher would have to consent to it because he has more than five years of major league service time — to work out his issues in a lower-pressure environment like the Blue Jays recently did with Alek Manoah.
Instead, Yankees pledged to do a deep dive between starts to try to fix Severino, who missed the first month and a half of the season with a strained right lat.
“You’re looking at a guy that is healthy and throwing well and is Luis Severino,” Boone said. “It’s not like, ‘Where’s the power? Where’s the stuff?’ It’s about tightening it up, adding some deception and then making some small adjustments that hopefully allow him to be consistent in his execution because that’s what it comes down to.”
Severino’s rotation spot is not in danger at the moment, with Nestor Cortes still a few weeks away from returning from the IL.
The left-hander, who will throw live batting practice Monday afternoon in Anaheim, is eligible to come off the 60-day IL on Aug. 3.
