New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino adjusts his hat after giving up three hits to the Baltimore … [+]
It was about eight years ago when Luis Severino appeared on the scene with a blazing fastball to help an 87-win team get to the wild-card game with the hope they would advance into the postseason’s main draw.
There were glimpses of his immense talent and even more hopes the Yankees developed a standout pitcher when he went 35-14 over a 63-start span in 2017 and 2018. In those seasons, the Yankees won 191 games and Severino earned two All-Star appearances and Cy Young consideration in each season.
It was enough for the Yankees to sign him to a four-year, $40 million contract shortly before spring training began in 2019. And it was certainly not an unreasonable move given Severino’s body of work in those seasons.
Now it appears, Severino is in a struggle to revive his career, especially after a national television audience watched him allow seven runs in the opening inning of a 9-3 loss.
“Right now, I feel like I am the worst pitcher in the game,” Severino told reporters in Baltimore. No doubt about it. I feel really good. I feel healthy. I feel like I throw a good game and then after that I’m just not able to keep it going. I have to be able to do that.”
While Severino may not be statistically the worst pitcher in baseball, the recent numbers do not deceive. He held a 1.59 ERA through his first two starts back from a lat strain and then allowed seven runs in Los Angeles to hike that figure to 5.28. After allowing 12 earned runs over his next three starts, the ERA climbed to 6.30 but six scoreless innings June 24 against Texas saw the ERA drop to 5.25 that appeared to provide a reason to believe the rough outings were a blip.
Then came nine runs in four innings July 1 against St. Louis followed by seven runs in 2 2/3 innings July 6 against Baltimore. It was after the final start before the break that left Severino really searching for answers for perhaps the first time since his extensive struggles early in 2016.
“I’ve never been this bad of a pitcher my whole life,” Severino said a little over three weeks ago. “It’s a little tough to get my head around.”
On Sunday, Severino allowed five hits that exited bats at over 100 mph. In the 14-1 game, he allowed four hits clocked over 100 mph and he is allowing his highest exit velocity of his career while opponents are generating a hard hit rate of 46.2 percent, up from 41.6 last season and way up from the 33.5 percent in 2017 and 34.7 percent in 2018.
What this means for Severino is tough to gauge. The Yankees cited his previous starts ahead of the Baltimore nightmare and all indications are he will start against Houston next weekend as of now.
Of course this being that time of year, it is always possible for the Yankees acquire a starting pitcher. Either way, this is a tough time for the psyches of players with the constant flow of rumors.
Just ask the Mets about dealing with the fragile psyche in the public face of rumors.
On Friday, Max Scherzer seemed incensed closer David Robertson was dealt to the Marlins, speaking in a fairly forceful tone after seeking a meeting with the front office regarding the direction of a 50-55 team. A night later, the details were spreading that it appeared to demoralize the Mets and it was almost anticipated they would lose a fairly routine blowout.
By 1:05 pm Sunday afternoon Scherzer’s locker was cleared out and the three-time Cy Young Award winner was on his way to Texas in a trade that appeared to leave future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander re-considering waiving a no-trade clause after saying following a 9-3 win over the Yankees he was committed to winning with the Mets.
New York Mets pitcher Justin Verlander delivers against the Washington Nationals in the first inning … [+]
Verlander’s postgame interview followed his 250th career win, normally a milestone that gets extensively talked about.
Instead after joking about opening his postgame comments with an “easy question” he faced numerous inquiries about what might happen between now and Tuesday.
“How do you not think about it?” Verlander said about two-plus hours before Severino experienced his latest struggles. “When you see that happen, you can’t help but think: What’s in store for next year? We play the game to win, and you want the opportunity to do so.”
For now, Severino is hoping to get another opportunity to improve next weekend while Verlander is hoping to enjoy a quiet off day before seeing if the Mets approach him about a possible trade which determines the future of a 498-start career that began in 2005 in a rebuild with the Detroit Tigers, who picked him less than a year after losing 119 games in 2003.