Severino gets Yankees' Opening Day nod

For the first time since 2014, the New York Yankees will start the season with someone other than Masahiro Tanaka on the mound, as manager Aaron Boone announced Saturday that Luis Severino will get the ball for their March 29 opener against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

For Severino, who turned 24 last month, it'll be his first career Opening Day start.

"We feel like it’s his time for it,” Boone told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "With what he was able to do last year, we feel like he’s in a really good place now. We just felt like now is the time for him to take on that role and we think he’s ready for it."

Last year, after vacillating between the rotation and bullpen in 2016, Severino emerged as one of the game's best young starters, earning his first career All-Star nomination and finishing third in American League Cy Young voting after authoring a 2.98 ERA (152 ERA+) with a 1.04 WHIP and over 31 starts.

Tanaka, who started on Opening Day in each of the previous three seasons, will follow Severino in the rotation, Boone added, with left-hander CC Sabathia, right-hander Sonny Gray, and left-hander Jordan Montgomery rounding out the group.