TAMPA, Fla. — Last February, the Yankees gave one of their homegrown talents, Luis Severino, a four-year contract extension worth $40 million, locking up one of the best young pitchers in baseball at an affordable rate before free agency.

A year later, it appears the Yankees might be lucky to get a season and a half out of Severino over the length of that extension. On Tuesday, Severino learned that he would require Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, a significant blow to the rotation of a team with hopes of a World Series title this year. He will miss the rest of the 2020 season and likely some of the 2021 season.

“I am extremely disappointed that I will not be able to put on a Yankees uniform and compete with my teammates this year,” Severino said in a statement on Tuesday, “but I promise that I will be working tirelessly during this process to come back stronger than ever to make the greatest fans in baseball proud.”

Severino had been struggling with intermittent soreness in his right forearm since October, when he started against the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. It disappeared quickly and he was cleared to start again if needed later that round.