5 MLB Pitchers Who Have Taken a Huge Step Forward in 2017

Luis Severino, SP, New York Yankees

At the moment, the American League Cy Young race is very much a two-horse sprint between Chris Sale and Corey Kluber, but if we use fWAR as the barometer, New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino checks in as the AL's third-best hurler with a mark of 4.6.

That's a far cry for someone who ended up getting relegated to the bullpen and even Triple-A after big-time struggles in the big league rotation just last year. Severino did have a solid rookie campaign in 2015 -- he posted a 2.89 ERA through 62.1 innings -- but red flags were there, such as his 3.84 SIERA, 8.4% walk rate, and 87.0% strand rate.

So it shouldn't be overly surprising that he scuffled to a 5.83 ERA in 71 innings in 2016, but he's returned to be the stalwart that New York's rotation has needed throughout this season.

The 3.33 SIERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate, and 12.2% swinging-strike rate that he's produced in 156.2 innings are all on track to be single-season career highs. He has amped up his ground-ball rate back up to 50.5% (more in line with his rookie campaign), but the right-hander's improved changeup has been impressive.

After striking out just 12.9% batters faced and generating a 7.3% swinging-strike rate on the offering last year, those numbers have improved to 23.2% and 12.5%, respectively. As a result, hitters have produced a wRC+ of only 36 this year, which is a huge improvement over the 106 they posted against it in 2016.