HITTIN' THE GAS!
Severino flashes strong velocity in spring debut for Amazin's
JUPITER, Fla. — Luis Severino reached back for one last pitch Friday to punctuate what had been a productive outing. Matt Carpenter swung and foul-tipped the 98-mph fourseamer — Severino’s fastest pitch of the afternoon — into Omar Narvaez’s mitt and the veteran right-hander’s first Grapefruit League appearance with the Mets was complete. “I had something in the tank because I was waiting for the perfect time to do it,” Severino said on a day the Mets lost 3-2 to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Severino pitched two hitless, scoreless innings with one strikeout. He allowed his only base runner on second baseman Yolmer Sanchez’s throwing error to start the game. For Severino, it was another building block in his progression — manager Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner gave him the option of working in a minor league game, but the former All-Star decided he needed to face MLB competition.
And this Cardinals lineup was formidable, with names such as Dylan Carlson, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado on display. Severino averaged 96 mph with his fourseamer, in line with what the Mets had seen during his live batting practice sessions. “The way he was using all his pitches, I was pretty pleased,” Mendoza said.
The Mets added three pitchers to their rebuilt rotation this offseason, and Severino, 30, offers potentially the highest ceiling. But that is provided the Mets can keep him on the mound to post every fifth or sixth day. Sean Manaea and Adrian Houser are the other new arrivals to the rotation. Even before Kodai Senga’s shoulder strain that will keep the
Mets ace on the injured list into May, there were questions about this rotation. Now the noise is even louder.
Will Severino place an added burden on himself with Senga sidelined?
“Talking for myself, it could be a little pressure because [Senga] is really good, but I think we have got a lot of guys,” Severino said. “We have [Jose] Butto, who has got a great fastball and command on everything. We have got [Tylor] Megill, who has been amazing, so as for me, I just need to be healthy and be out there and everything will be good.”
Severino began working on a sinker last season with the Yankees and hopes it will become an important part of an arsenal that includes a four-seamer, cutter, slider and changeup. Severino threw 30 pitches in the outing and 11 were sinkers.
“I think I need to work more on it,” Severino said. “I think it was dropping a lot of depth instead of moving in, but that is not bad. That is not terrible. I just need a little more location.
“This is the first game of the season so it doesn’t mean a lot. At the same time, going out there and working every day and I have been healthy afterward.”
Severino strained a lat in spring training last year and didn’t pitch until May. In September, he sustained an oblique injury that ended his season early. Overall, he pitched to a 6.65 ERA in 19 appearances with the Yankees, leaving him to accept a one-year contract from the Mets worth $13 million. Severino has missed significant time since 2018 with various ailments, including a torn ulnar collateral ligament that necessitated Tommy John surgery.
“We saw his stuff at the end of [last] year and the stuff was still there,” Mendoza said. “It’s an electric fastball and we felt like going into an offseason healthy and adjusting some of the things, whether it was a throwing program, and not being shut down for quite a bit, it was a continued throwing routine and it was important.”