Yankees Notebook: Slow rehab brings humor, frustration out of Luis Severino

ST. PETERSBURG — Luis Severino’s sense of humor — and frustration — was on full display Sunday morning in the Yankees’ clubhouse at Tropicana Field.

Severino, working his way back from a lat injury suffered at the end of spring training, will begin a rehab assignment this week with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That assignment was originally supposed to begin with a start for Low-A Tampa this past week, but the Yankees had him throw three innings and 40 pitches in a simulated game at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday instead.

That session was closed to reporters even though the Yankees were in Tampa Bay for a series with the Rays.

“I think it was unnecessary not to in throw in Low-A,” Severino said, “but I do whatever they tell me to do.”

Severino, who has expressed dissatisfaction with how the Yankees have handled his recoveries in the past, added “they tried to” when asked if the team explained why he needed the simulated game before starting his rehab assignment. The Yankees have cited wanting to control the environment for Severino’s first game action since the spring, and Aaron Boone said Severino’s lengthy injury history has influenced the right-hander’s conservative timeline, though the Yankees generally take that approach with pitchers.

“He wants to pitch,” Boone said when asked about Severino’s comments. “He wants to get back here. He wants to get in the rotation. He feels good. So I just look at it as a competitor wanting to go.”

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Severino said “of course” when asked if he’s frustrated with how his timeline has been slow played, as he feels healthy. But he also understands that the Yankees are just looking out for him.

“I know they want the best for me,” the impending free agent said.

Severino will pitch for the RailRiders on Wednesday or Thursday. His preference is Thursday, as the club has an 11:05 a.m. game on Wednesday.

“I mean, I don’t want to stay in Scranton,” Severino said, one of several times he elicited laughs Sunday morning. “And I don’t want to drive at six in the morning. One day is not gonna be a big deal.”

Severino added that he wants to make two rehab starts, but he knows the Yankees could require more. Boone said he’ll need “at least a couple” on Saturday.

“Hopefully, two is enough for me. I threw 40 pitches last time. So hopefully I can get to 50. Or 47. Or 41,” Severino said, another joke. “Hopefully, in those two starts, I can get to 60-something pitches.”

Severino also said that official games will help him readjust to MLB’s 2023 rule changes, which is partly why he objected to Friday’s sim game. He felt that he picked the news rules up well in spring training, “but that was like seven months ago,” he said, playfully exaggerating.

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“I need to get used to the clock again,” Severino explained. “Get used to the rhythm of a real game, good hitters, good batters. We’ve got some really good guys down [in Tampa], but it’s not the same as being in a real game.”

Josh Donaldson was also at Tropicana Field on Sunday. He has ramped up sprinting the last couple of days but hasn’t reached top speed yet as he recovers from a hamstring strain.

Donaldson started taking grounders with side-to-side movement Saturday, but he’s still not doing full-range infield work. He hasn’t suffered any additional tweaks since reaggravating his injury in a rehab game on April 18.

The next step is for the third baseman to do two consecutive days with a heavy workload. Sunday was a light day for him.

A day after Ian Hamilton notched his first career save, Boone said “a little bit of everything’s in play” for the ninth inning. Clay Holmes, fresh off two rough appearances, handled the eighth against the heart of Tampa Bay’s order in the Yankees’ Saturday win. Hamilton faced the bottom of the lineup in the ninth.

Holmes will continue to get save opportunities, but Boone will use factors like availability and where the opposition is at in the lineup to determine who pitches when at the end of games. The manager added “not necessarily” when asked if he prefers to have a set closer.

“We have a number of guys capable of pitching in all kinds of roles,” Boone said.