BOSTON — After Luis Severino’s last start, Aaron Boone has been more encouraged than the right fielder himself.
After another mixed bag Sunday night, Severino seemed more receptive to the positives as he looked to get around.
Severino lasted only five innings in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox finishing attacking doubleheader at Fenway Park, but he saw a life improvement on his fastball as he gave up four runs, three of which he earned.
“He’s my sword, we want and expect a lot and we want more,” Bunn said. “But I feel like there are some things to take away from his last two games that will hopefully move him forward. Basically things and the ease of getting those things out.”
Severino averaged 97 mph on his fastball on Sunday and produced nine whiffs from the field.
But he regretted the 1-1 change-up he threw to Triston Casas with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, which knocked down a pair of runs to put the Red Sox up 4-1.
With the way the Yankees’ offense has been squabbling lately, that was enough to be a knockout punch.
“I want to give my team a chance,” said Severino, who has a 6.30 ERA through six starts. “At the moment we are not in a good goal-scoring position, but it doesn’t matter what the situation is, I want to go out there and throw the zeros.”
After Sunday’s game, the Yankees selected Oswaldo Cabrera to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, opening the door for Harrison Bader to be activated on Tuesday against the Mariners.
Bader was initially expected to return from a hamstring strain on Friday, but opted to play two more rehab games to clear a mental hurdle to ensure he could use his legs at full speed.
Cabrera was optioned to the SWB earlier this month, but he didn’t play a game there before he needed to be called up again two days later when he landed IL’s Greg Allen.
He started Sunday night and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
Ian Hamilton (groin strain) started the rehab assignment Sunday with Double-A Somerset, throwing a scoreless inning and allowing two hits on 16 pitches.
It was the first of “at least three” times in rehab the Yankees want Hamilton to do, Boone said, meaning he likely won’t be back until the next Yankees road trip next week.
Nestor Cortes took a small first step in his recovery from a rotator cuff strain, playing catch on Sunday mornings for the first time since closing two weeks ago.
If he continues to progress without issues, he could play for a return in early to mid-July.
Boone said Aaron Judge (who has a sprained right toe) was “much better” Saturday and Sunday, having experienced “a lot of thumping” and “a lot of pain” after receiving a second PRP injection on Thursday.
Clark Schmidt and Nick Ramirez each made a save in Game 1 Sunday of a doubleheader. This was the Yankees’ second game with two scores in their last four games.
Greg Weissert threw 1 ⁄ scoreless innings in Game 1 as the 27th man before returning him to Triple-A after the doubleheader.
