Fansided

5 reasons the Yankees will finish ahead of the Red Sox

By Rucker Haringey

BOSTON - APRIL 11: Boston Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly and first baseman Mitch Moreland fight with the Yankees' Tyler Austin after he charged the mound in the seventh inning. The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on April 11, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - APRIL 11: Boston Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly and first baseman Mitch Moreland fight with the Yankees' Tyler Austin after he charged the mound in the seventh inning. The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on April 11, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TX – MAY 02: New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) delivers the pitch in the fifth inning during an MLB baseball game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees on May 2, 2018 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.(Photo by: Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – MAY 02: New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) delivers the pitch in the fifth inning during an MLB baseball game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees on May 2, 2018 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.(Photo by: Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Luis Severino is an ace

The biggest advantage Boston has held over New York in recent years has been at the top of their rotation. The emergence of Luis Severino as a legitimate ace for the Yankees goes a long way towards narrowing that gap for the Yankees.

Watching Severino this season has been an absolute pleasure for Yankee fans. He’s dominated opposing hitters with his dominant fastball. Severino continues to be one of the hardest throwing starters in all of MLB.

The combination of his sizzling fastball and dominant off-speed stuff has hitters really struggling to square the ball up against him. In fact, the opposition is only hitting .172 against Severino to date. That’s helped power him to a 5-1 mark with a minuscule ERA of just 2.11.

Next: 5 bold predictions for the rest of the Yankees season

Severino may not stay quite this dominant for the full season, but don’t expect his performance to regress much. There’s nothing flukish about the way he’s pitching at the moment. He’s high on confidence and stuff. That combination will continue to make him one of the best pitchers in the game for the foreseeable future. Severino’s emergence as a true ace is the number one reason the Yankees will overtake the Red Sox this season.

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