Did the Yankees need anymore help this season? Probably not. They already are tied with Houston for the best record in the majors.
But additional help is just what they got, with ace and 2018 Cy Young contender Luis Severino returning from shoulder and lat injuries.
The lineup he faced was not a juggernaut like the Bronx Bombers themselves possess. An Angels order sans Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani is hardly one to pose a constant threat, particularly with only two other regulars possessing an OPS above .800.
Still, four innings of two-hit, shutout baseball from Severino with just a pair of walks and four strikeouts in an eventual 8-0 New York win ought to reassure the New York faithful that their ace should only be getting better come the start of the postseason.
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It wasn’t just the numbers that stood out for Severino.
His stuff indicated an impressive return to form for the flamethrower. His fastball touched 98 again, a season after he was tied with Noah Syndergaard for the fastest average fastball velocity among pitchers with at least 1,500 pitches in a season, per Statcast. In fact, it touched 98 five times during his start, including on his final fastball of the evening — pitch No. 65 for the 25-year-old right-hander.
Any semblance of a return to form for Severino would surely be welcomed by the Yankees, particularly pitching out of the rotation. In 2018, he posted a 3.39 ERA in 191.1 innings of work with a 28.2 percent strikeout rate and 5.9 percent walk rate. This was coming off the heels of a season in which he posted a 2.98 ERA in 193.1 innings with a 29.4 percent strikeout rate and 6.5 percent walk rate.
That is certainly not to say the Yankees’ rotation this year has been bad, but it had been clear its ace was missing. James Paxton has pitched reasonably well in his first season wearing pinstripes, with a 3.88 ERA and 3.92 FIP across 143.2 innings. Domingo German has one of the best records in baseball at 18-4, though his 4.09 ERA and 4.74 FIP indicate offensive support is largely the cause of that win-loss record. And while Masahiro Tanaka is second on the team with a 3.0 WAR, his 4.60 ERA and 4.33 FIP leave plenty to be desired.
The Yankees’ bullpen can hang with anybody, but to beat the Astros in the hunt for an American League pennant and a shot at their first World Series since 2009, the Yankees likely need a true ace. Their lineup is deep, but facing off against a Houston rotation that brings the two Cy Young frontrunners in Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, not to mention the deadline addition of former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, they will need an arm to keep Houston’s own dominant lineup in check.
If they don’t have that one guy at the top of their rotation who can be a shutdown pitcher when they need a win, even a game against the homer-happy Twins could prove problematic in New York’s pursuit of World Series No. 28.