Yankees’ Luis Severino to miss final spring start

TAMPA — With less than a week until Opening Day, there is heightened concern that something is wrong with Yankees right-hander Luis Severino, a starter who’s battled myriad injuries over the past several years.

Severino won’t make his final start of the spring on Sunday, NJ Advance Media has learned. What led to Severino being scratched and the severity of this late-spring setback are unknown. A Yankees official would not comment to NJ Advance Media on whether Severino is injured.

The right-hander’s ghastly numbers in Grapefruit League play were enough of a red flag to put Severino’s health into question. Severino has a 9.00 ERA in five starts, allowing 15 earned runs and six home runs over 15 innings.

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If Severino ends up missing time — which is a possibility if he’s unable to make his final start of the spring — it’ll be the latest bullet point in a long list of injuries for the two-time All-Star. Between right rotator cuff inflammation (2019), Tommy John surgery (2020), a right lat strain (2022) and other complications, Severino has pitched in only 26 games since his 19-win season in 2018.

Severino has insisted that he’s healthy and feeling like he’s in a good spot, regardless of the results. A return of injury concerns is even more unfortunate because he is entering his walk year and needs to prove he has moved past his previous arm issues before hitting the open market for the first time in his career.

An injury to Severino would be debilitating for the Yankees, who already have lost two starters this spring to arm injuries. Left-hander Carlos Rodón will sit out the first month of the season with a forearm strain, an issue that he dealt with last season while pitching for the Giants. Righty Frankie Montas will be sidelined until the second half of the season — if he pitches at all in 2023 — after shoulder surgery, a residual issue connected to the shoulder inflammation that ended his regular season after being traded to the Yankees at the deadline.

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With Rodón and Montas out, the Yankees are using righties Domingo Germán and Clarke Schmidt in their rotation at the beginning of the season. If Severino is suddenly sidelined, the Yankees are looking at a rotation with two All-Stars, two depth pieces and a complete unknown as they break camp.

General manager Brian Cashman could already be considering a trade for starting depth, and depending on Severino’s issue, the Yankees could accelerate those conversations, bringing in an arm before the season begins next week.

Internal candidates for emergency starts include Deivi García, Matt Krook, Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito. Krook is the only pitcher from that bunch who is still participating in the major-league camp.