Yankees' Luis Severino To Miss Significant Time With Lat Strain

The Yankees placed former All-Star starting pitcher Luis Severino on the 15-day IL Thursday with a “low grade right lat strain.”

The Pro Baseball Docs expect that Severino will miss more than the 15-day minimum, extending his likely timeline to four-to-six weeks, and give the 28-year-old a SIC score of 51.

Luis Severino Injury Update

Severino exited last night's start with right shoulder soreness after allowing three home runs on diminished velocity in the first two innings.

As noted by multiple reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Severino suffered a previous latissimus dorsi injury during spring training in 2019.

Severino was out for six months, returning on September 17, 2019 and tossing 18 innings across five starts in the regular season and playoffs.

That injury alone would be enough to spur the Yankees to be cautious with his recovery, but Severino also has a history of arm issues.

Severino underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2020 and had to fight through a bout of shoulder soreness during his ramp-up in 2021. 

Each of these injuries is linked in his kinetic chain and have come back-to-back, as Severino has pitched only 113.2 innings across 26 starts since signing a $40 million contract in February 2019. 

Jacob deGrom has similarly missed much of the last two seasons because of elbow and shoulder injuries, the latter of which was caused in part due to compensation after his 2021 elbow inflammation. 

The hope is that Severino recovers smoothly and returns sometime in August, avoiding the 60-day IL.

The top-end starter has a 3.35 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 16 starts and the Yankees are 11-5 in those games. 

Yankees World Series Odds

Severino is unlikely to be a consistent fantasy option for the rest of the season, but fellow right-handed starter Domingo German is progressing in his own rehab and could return to the majors soon after the All-Star break.

The Yankees remain the favorite to win the AL and the World Series at +140 and +300, respectively, on FanDuel Sportsbook.