Keith Law, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Law: Two Yankees pitchers among players I was wrong about

This is the sixth annual installment of my "Guys I Got Wrong" column (for past versions, see the links below). I'll look at players who have become much better big leaguers than I ever forecasted them to be and try to explain where I made mistakes in evaluating them.

As with previous editions, I've included some players I didn't discuss much as prospects or young major leaguers -- errors of omission that are errors nonetheless. This allows me to talk about some guys who never received much praise or publicity anywhere, not just from me.

The 2017 season has brought a lot of spikes in performance that might just as easily be one-year wonders: Chris Taylor (age 27), Whit Merrifield (28), and Travis Shaw (27, and protected from LHP much of the year) all performed way above projections or scouting reports would have indicated, although in Shaw's case there's enough positive there that I'll mention him below.

In general, I prefer to see more than one season above expectations before including a player in this column, but this year, any such players with two or more good years under their belts had appeared in a previous version, so these players are mostly 2017 breakouts as well.

Past "Guys I Got Wrong" columns: In 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012


Luis SeverinoLuis Severino, SP
New York Yankees
2017 WAR: 5.4

I saw Severino multiple times as a prospect and loved his arm but hated his arm action, forecasting that it would eventually lead him to a relief role because pitchers who throw like he does frequently break down or struggle to command their fastballs.

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