LISTEN: Girardi Says He Expects Severino To Bounce Back
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Despite a disastrous postseason debut Tuesday night, Luis Severino still has the faith of his manager.
Talking to WFAN's Marc Malusis and Eddie Coleman on Thursday, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he believes his ace will get back on track when he starts Game 4 of the ALDS against the Indians on Monday, assuming neither team sweeps the best-of-five series.
In Tuesday's 8-4 wild-card win over the Twins, Severino was pulled with just one out in the first inning after allowing three runs on two homers and putting another two runners on base.
Girardi chalked up the 23-year-old's dismal outing to "emotions."
"I think that he was overthrowing and wasn't hitting his spots and was trying to power his way through it, in a sense," Girardi said. "And hopefully he learned a lot from ... that one-game playoff. I don't think that's odd. I think you see veteran pitchers do that, and he just didn't get away with anything."
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The Yankees' skipper said he believes the right-hander can put the poor performance behind him.
"I do, because I think he had to do it a couple times during the course of the year," Girardi said. "His best performance was in the second half, and his best month was in the month of September. So I do think he can turn the page. And I'm sure he learned a lot from that."
Another pitcher Girardi is counting on is reliever Dellin Betances, who has had an up-and-down season. Despite that the Yankees needed eight-plus innings from their bullpen against the Twins, Girardi never called on Betances. But he said he's likely to use the big righty in Game 1 Thursday at Cleveland.
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"We're going to need him. That's the bottom line," Girardi said. "He could play a huge role tonight, and I know that I can use him for more than an inning if I need him. You look at it, he's probably our eighth-inning guy, maybe our seventh- and eighth-inning guy tonight."
To hear the full interview with Girardi, click on the audio player above.