TAMPA, Fla. -- When Luis Severino climbed a bullpen mound for the first time following Tommy John surgery, the coaches in attendance advised him to take it easy. With each pop of the catcher’s glove, reminders were issued, and the right-hander shrugged. The heat is coming naturally.

“I was feeling pretty good that day,” Severino said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good. I didn’t know what to do in my first bullpen, so I treated it like it was a normal bullpen. They told me not to throw too hard, so I tried to back up a little bit, but I was feeling pretty good and throwing a lot of strikes.”

Severino has tossed from the bullpen mound twice; his first session was 20 pitches, and the most recent was 25. Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey said that he believes Severino is “the most comfortable I’ve ever seen a player” following Tommy John surgery.

“He looked like he had zero apprehension or zero worry about whether his surgically repaired elbow was sound,” Harkey said.

Having thrown only fastballs to date, Severino said that he is looking forward to incorporating his breaking pitches. Envisioning a late June or early July return to the big league rotation, Severino is scheduled to continue throwing bullpen sessions twice weekly until he is cleared to face hitters.

“I haven’t been out of the game that long, so I'm excited to come back,” Severino said. “I'm excited to be on the mound. The first time I was out there, I was trying to do a good job and also be myself out there. Being myself is throwing hard, so it's a little tough, but I will do my best.”

Right round
Brett Gardner has played one career game in right field -- an April 23, 2014, contest at Fenway Park best remembered for Michael Pineda’s ejection after the right-hander was caught with pine tar smeared across the right side of his neck.

“That was a pretty entertaining weekend,” Gardner said.

Gardner has been thinking about that experience this spring, since manager Aaron Boone would like the veteran to see some time in right field before the club breaks camp. Gardner has logged one start in right field and is scheduled to play there again on Tuesday.

“I just need to be comfortable over there and get some reps,” Gardner said. “I feel like I can just roll out of bed and play center or left. Right field is something I haven’t done a whole lot of, so I’m just trying to get some balls off the bat over there.”

With Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge expected to comprise the Opening Day outfield, Gardner projects to be utilized in a bench role.

“I told [Judge] that I expect him to be out there for all 162 games, so I don’t think that I’ll be needed,” Gardner said.

Recovery room
Left-hander Zack Britton underwent surgery to remove a bone chip and loose bodies from his pitching elbow on Monday. The procedure was performed by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

“Want to thank Dr. Ahmad and his staff for their excellent work today,” Britton said on Twitter. “Excited to start the process of getting myself ready to rejoin the boys!”

Britton is expected to miss the first three months of the regular season. Boone said that he exchanged text messages with Britton on Monday and the surgery is said to have gone as expected.

Boone said that catcher Robinson Chirinos is scheduled to have surgery on his fractured right wrist on Tuesday in Tampa. Chirinos’ expected recovery time is four to six weeks.

Additionally, infielder/outfielder Miguel Andújar was diagnosed with a muscle strain and a nerve issue in his right hand. Andújar will continue to receive treatment and is considered day to day.

He said it
“I’ve managed to give Tyler Wade a pretty hard time. He said that he's going to start recording me so that he can have a lawsuit against me down the road. I can't let a guy like him get too comfortable.” -- Gardner, who is the Yankees’ resident clubhouse prankster

Up next
Gerrit Cole will make his third start of the spring on Tuesday as the Yankees visit the Tigers for a 1:05 p.m. ET contest in Lakeland. Cole has permitted two runs and six hits over four spring innings (4.50 ERA).