AL Wild Card 2017: 5 reasons Yankees will win

4. Severino is on a roll

The Yankees decision to keep Luis Severino in the starting rotation and avoid the temptation to turn the young flamethrower into a multi-inning reliever like Dellin Betances has paid off in a big way. He is the team’s first homegrown ace in nearly two decades. The Yankees have not had a pitcher developed in their farm system lead the staff in WAR since Chien-Ming Wang in 2007. Before Wang, it was Andy Pettitte all the way back in the late 1990s.

Severino always had special talent, but was finally able to sustain excellence over the course of a full season. Working with Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez on refining his changeup last winter allowed him to make the leap to the next level.

In the second half, Severino was nearly as good as Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber. He went 9-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 14 starts while striking out 11 per nine. Severino was even better in September where he went 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA, struck out over six for every walk he issued and held opponents to a .142/.188/.236 slash line.

The Twins will counter Severino with veteran Ervin Santana who does not possess the same type of overpowering velocity and wipeout breaking ball. With the bullpen fully rested and waiting, Severino will be able to pitch at maximum effort for four or five innings. That’s scary.