Luis Severino was two outs into the seventh inning and 106 pitches into his day's work when Jose Peraza stepped to the plate on a recent Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Two unearned runs had already scored in the inning, but New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi let his 23-year-old ace continue.
A year after plenty of people were calling for Severino to be left full-time in the bullpen, Girardi was willing to let him be his own setup man. And why not?
First pitch to Peraza: A 99.8 mph fastball, taken for strike one.