It’s been a year of reflection for Luis Severino, but the right-hander had his best performance of the season on Saturday, pitching his first shutout win since 2018 against the Marlins at Citi Field.
Severino bounced back from three straight poor games to dominate Miami, the team with the worst offense in the National League, eliciting chants of “Sevvy” from the Queens crowd.
That hardly mattered to the 30-year-old, whose career imploded just under a year after a disastrous final season in the Bronx.
Since then, he’s refined his repertoire, making pitches less unpredictable and becoming a better pitcher, culminating on Saturday.
Severino called this season “amazing.”
The Mets’ offense got going with a leadoff homer by Francisco Lindor and a homer by Pete Alonso in the bottom of the second, scoring one run in each of the first four innings to give Severino the lead.
Severino handled the rest of the game, taking advantage of Miami’s aggressive approach at the plate and keeping the pitch count down to record the first shutout game by the Mets since Jacob deGrom did it against Washington in 2021.
Severino waved to the crowd as he left the mound after throwing 94 pitches and completing the eighth inning, but after a conversation with Carlos Mendoza (twice, actually) between innings, Severino convinced the manager to let him stay in the game.
“I just wanted to know how he was doing,” said Mendoza, who has known Severino for a long time, dating back to their days with the Yankees. “He just looked me in the eye and said he was doing great.”
Mendoza then followed Severino to the batting cage under the dugout.
“I wanted to be sure,” Mendoza said, “I wanted him to be honest with me. I told him, ‘Give it all you’ve got.'”
Severino then struck out Jake Berger with his first pitch in the ninth inning, bringing Mendoza to the mound.
The Citi Field crowd booed, thinking Mendoza was replacing Severino with Edwin Diaz, but Severino still had the velocity, so Mendoza said, “This is your game,” and let Severino pitch to every batter.
Severino responded by getting the next three outs to end the game.
For Severino, it was an important game for a few reasons.
Perhaps most importantly, this game comes after three of their worst starts to the year.
Through Saturday, he had allowed 15 runs (14 earned) in 13 innings, giving up five home runs and raising his ERA from 3.58 to 4.17 over three tough outings.
But Severino threw a season-high 113 pitches Saturday and generally looked comfortable, striking out eight and walking just one.
And for a starting pitcher who has struggled recently with innings, Severino pitched a complete game following Sean Manaea’s seven innings on Friday, giving the bullpen some rest.
The Mets are on a winning streak after dropping five of six games and have a shot at winning the series on Sunday.
After the Marlins leave town, the Orioles come to Citi Field, then the Mets begin a key road trip in San Diego, followed by Arizona.
Their wild-card hopes may hinge on the next three series, so beating the Marlins was crucial, especially after losing the series to Oakland.
The key will be for Severino to regain the form he showed early in the season.
He’ll probably never approach the dominance he showed in his early days in the Bronx, but he’s a proven pitcher who has pitched in big situations in the past.
When asked if he could become the ace, especially with Senga Kodai’s current condition and no guarantee of his return from a torn calf muscle, Severino hesitated to answer.
“It takes everybody’s cooperation,” Severino said.
And on Saturday, he delivered.
