Luis Severino leaves rehab start in another potentially-brutal injury for Yankees

Luis Severino exits his rehab start for the New York Yankees on Saturday due to a leg injury.

New York Yankees fans have to be sick to their stomaches upon hearing the latest injury news about pitcher Luis Severino.

During his rehab start in Coney Island on Saturday, Severino had to be helped off the field with an apparent lower leg injury. The sad part is that he was pitching up to his typical self in his rehab start. Severino has not pitched for the Yankees since the 2019 MLB season. In a season full of World Series aspirations, the Yankees are looking more and more like a postseason pretender.

The Yankees were counting on Severino’s return to be a huge boost to their rotation this season.

New York Yankees: Luis Severino exits his rehab start due to a leg injury

Prior to 2019, Severino was the Yankees’ ace. He won 14 games in 2017 and 19 in 2018, making the AL All-Star Team in both seasons. Severino was a top-10 finisher for the AL Cy Young both years, including a third-place finish in 2017. However, he has pitched in only three big-league games since the start of the 2019 MLB season. Sadly, he may not pitch for the rest of 2021.

New York is only a few games above .500 this year. In other divisions, that might be good enough to win it, but that is nowhere near good enough in the deep AL East. The defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays look to be every bit as good as they were a season ago, while the arch rival Boston Red Sox have gotten back to their winning ways following the return of manager Alex Cora.

Seeing Severino being helped off the field could mean it is season over for the Yankees starter.