Taillon and Severino will help Yankee rotation

Guardar

TAMPA, Florida, USA (AP) The New York Yankees are getting good news about their rotation behind Gerrit Cole.

Jameson Taillon became the second starter in two days that after coming out of injury, has a good start in spring training.

Taillon, who underwent surgery in the offseason to repair a tendon in his right ankle, threw two blank innings on Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I'm definitely in a better position than before surgery,” Taillon said. “It still feels like there's something I can work on in the training room, some things I can do in the gym, like my progression from runs, jumps and things like that. But last year I was in a much worse position.”

Dominican right-hander Luis Severino, limited to four late appearances as a reliever in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery on February 27, 2020, made an encouraging start against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. After that, Severino commented that, in terms of his health, he feels quite well.

In his first season with the Yankees, Taillon was 8-6 with a clean run average of 4.30 in 29 starts. Prior to last season, he had not released since May 1, 2019, when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates, due to surgery.

Severino's two-inning start was the first he pitched at spring training camps in four years. He was injured while warming up for his first scheduled start in preparation game in 2019.

“I felt like I was more nervous than in 2015 (his rookie year),” Severino said. “I threw two innings, I hope next time it will be three. I'm really excited about it.”

Winner of 19 matches in 2018, Severino signed a four-year, $40 million contract ahead of the 2019 season. He was limited by shoulder discomfort to only three appearances that year, the first on September 17 and the last on September 28, in addition to a couple of postseason starts.

“Watching Sevie launch yesterday made me very happy,” Taillon said. “He looked super healthy and strong. I think we have a lot of good arms.”

Néstor Cortes Jr., in the dispute for a place at the end of the rotation, also had two solid innings against the Phillies.