Aaron Boone put the no-risk, potentially high-reward move this way: "Definitely good to have another Severino in the mix."
That would be Rafael Severino, the 19-year-old brother of Yankees ace Luis Severino. He was signed by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic on Monday as an international free agent. The right-hander will start his career pitching out of the Yankees academy in the Dominican Republic.
"He's a great pitcher," Luis said of his brother's fastball-slider-sinker-changeup combination. "He knows how to pitch. He doesn't throw that hard, he's really skinny. But when he gets stronger, he's going to throw hard."
Severino joked that his brother, whose fastball sits in the range of 88-89 mph, probably needs to hit the weight room. He said Rafael is about 6-2 and "like 100 pounds."
Asked who taught Rafael to pitch, Luis smiled. "Not from me," he said. "At that age, I wasn't that smart.
"When I was 19 ... I had a fastball and slider, that was it. He has all these pitches he can throw whenever he wants."
Severino (13-2) leads the majors in victories and has a 1.98 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.
