Without their acquired ace and with Kodai Senga injured, the most obvious path for the Mets to force a stoppage would be to transform their Game 1 postseason starter from 2024 Luis Severino to 2018 Luis Severino.
On Wednesday, Severino threw a pitch that looked very similar to the 2023 version.
On the other side of the trade deadline, the Mets acquired Paul Blackburn but didn’t acquire a star like Blake Snell or Tarik Skubal, and Severino didn’t immediately inspire confidence that the good pitcher he established could return to the greatness he was years ago in the Bronx.
The powerful right-hander gave up six runs in just three innings in an 8-3 loss to the Twins before a crowd of 28,875 at Citi Field. The Mets’ 13-game winning streak ended but they were unable to sweep the series.
After a day off on Thursday, the team will embark on a 10-day, 10-game, four-city road trip that begins in Anaheim on Friday.
Blackburn will start the series opener and join a rotation that includes Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana and David Peterson, none of whom have the potential of Severino’s arm.
The Mets bet on Severino’s talent and pedigree, signing him to a bargain one-year, $13 million deal, but he’s been solid rather than flashy, and continues to add innings to a pitcher who may be coming into his own.
Severino’s four-seam fastball’s average velocity dropped about 1.5 mph on Wednesday. His slider, which averaged 86.9 mph this season, averaged 84.1 mph after 10 uses. The drop in velocity translated into poor results, as he gave up two home runs and six hits in just nine outs.
Of course, it’s possible that he was just having a bad day during a strong season — he has a 2.08 ERA over his past three starts.
But Severino was only able to pitch 89⅓ innings in 2023, compared with 120 total innings from 2019-2022 when he was plagued by various injuries, and is now up to 123⅔ innings.
The Twins took the lead in the second inning when Byron Buxton hit a 435-foot home run to left-center field and teeing off Severino in the third. Minnesota sent eight batters to the plate in that inning, four of whom hit consecutive hits to score.
Trevor Larnach’s RBI single tied the game at 2-2. After Larnach stole second base, Max Kepler singled to right field to give the Twins the lead. Royce Lewis hit a beautiful double down the third base line to extend the lead, and Matt Wallner’s home run to center field made it 6-2.
That was it for Severino, who watched the Mets (57-51) lose for just the third time in their last 10 games and saw Tyler Megill (one run in two innings) make his bullpen debut.
A reinvigorated Mets offense was largely outplayed by Pablo Lopez and the Twins’ relief pitchers, who combined to allow just six hits, two of which came in garbage time in the ninth inning.
The Mets’ biggest hit came from Mark Vientos, who hit his 16th home run in just 63 games, a two-run homer in the second inning that gave the Mets a brief lead.
The most worrisome at-bat for the Mets came in the sixth inning from Brandon Nimmo, whose reliable No. 2 hitter hit a foul ball into his left leg, stumbled around and then struck out. He was replaced in the seventh inning, but the team did not immediately provide a health update.
