He arrives

Tonight, the Yankees' best pitching prospect, Luis Severino, will make his Major League debut. Like most Yankee fans, I'm very excited for it. I do have mixed emotions - one one hand, I'm not sure if he's ready, although he's done nothing to prove he isn't. On the other hand, I'm glad they are giving him a shot, realizing he is capable of giving them a better performance than Chris Capuano or the likes. Brian Cashman felt that that it wasn't worth acquiring a guy like Mike Leake (for example) at the deadline when they have someone equally capable in-house, albeit less experienced.

So how will it go? I'm not expecting a dominant performance. I'd be thrilled with it, but I'm expecting somewhere along the lines of 5 innings with 3 or 4 runs allowed. Keep in mind a guy like Jon Gray, a similarly ranked prospect and a few years older, debuted last night to a line of 4 IP and 2 ERs, with 4 Ks and a couple of walks. It's hard. It's the Majors. It's not just another game. Emotions are high. It's hot out. It's just not an easy task for a young kid who wants to prove he belongs.

Just keep the Yanks in the game with 5 good innings, and build on that.

Knowing that Severino was graduating to the Bigs, and not owning an autograph of his, I splurged on this guy. It wasn't too expensive, but if he lights the world on fire, it was going to be tougher to buy.

Good luck tonight, kid.