Luis Severino thinks he can get back to his old form this season, or at least improve on some of the issues that plagued his time with the Yankees.
The Mets’ new pitcher told reporters Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, Fla., that he has done a lot of research this offseason in hopes of curbing the slant in his pitches that he believes has had problems in recent seasons. said.
Severino said he believes the main problem occurred when he was throwing breaking balls with runners on base.
“This is the big leagues. We have to clean it up,” Severino said, according to the newspaper’s Jon Heyman.
Severino, a two-time All-Star who finished third in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2017, struggled in 2023 with a 6.65 ERA in 89 1/3 innings pitched.
He was especially vulnerable with runners in scoring position, as he posted a slash line of .330/.404/.637 with seven home runs in just 105 at-bats.
Severino has previously said that problems with pitchers falling have intermittently hindered him throughout his career.
In 2018, there were suspicions that Severinon tipped over pitches during a particularly poor start, giving up six runs in three innings in Game 3 of the ALDS vs. the Red Sox.
A year later, former Yankee Alex Rodriguez suspected Severino had done the same thing against the Astros in the ALCS.
“There’s a lot of things I think I did wrong. There’s always issues with tips and things like that,” Severino said at a press conference in January when he was introduced as a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “I think we need to address that now, so when the season starts and we get on the mound, we need to focus on pitching and forget about pitching.” [whether] My gloves are either too high or too low. ”
Severino’s peripherals took a nosedive last year as he battled injuries, but his fastball velocity is still in the 88th percentile in all of baseball, according to Baseball Savant, so his one-year relationship with Severino There are hopes that the situation can be turned around during the demonstration contract. 2024 Mets.
