Luis Severino missed pitching at Yankee Stadium last season during his lone season with the New York Mets.
On Sunday, the right-hander takes the mound in the Bronx for the first time as a visitor when the Athletics conclude a three-game series with the Yankees.
Rookie Nick Kurtz belted a three-run blast in the Athletics’ 7-0 win on Saturday for his seventh homer in the past 13 games.
Severino (2-8, 4.83) ERA debuted with the Yankees in August 2015 and went 54-37 with a 3.79 ERA in 189 games (173 starts). He earned 33 of those wins in 2017 and 2018 when he placed third and ninth, respectively, in the American League Cy Young voting.
A rash of injuries, however, limited him to 45 appearances from 2019 through 2023 and the Yankees did not retain him after he was 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA in 19 appearances in 2023.
“It’s going to be a lot of boos, a lot of cheering against the other team,” Severino told reporters Friday afternoon. “I’m just going to try to have fun, go out there, compete, try to win a game. Hopefully it’s going to be better than last time.”
Severino went 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts for the Mets in 2024. He threw 182 innings, his most since 2018 and notched 161 strikeouts.
“Everything that I know and everything that I am, came from this team here,” Severino said. “So I’ll always remember this as one of the best times in baseball for me.”
Severino is facing the Yankees for the second time after allowing eight runs on nine hits in four innings on May 11 in Sacramento. The rough outing against the Yankees is part of his struggles at the A’s temporary home ballpark, where he is 0-7 with a 6.79 ERA in 10 starts.
Severino is 1-4 with a 7.14 ERA in his past five starts. On Monday, Severino was rocked for seven runs on seven hits — including two homers – in five innings during an 11-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees are 5-10 in their past 15 games and were shut out for the fourth time in that span. New York mustered only three singles on Saturday.
Marcus Stroman (0-1, 11.57) is slated to return to the Yankees after missing 69 games with left knee inflammation. He has not pitched since getting two outs and allowing five runs in the first inning of a 9-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on April 11.
Stroman was 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA in three minor league rehab starts for Double-A Somerset. Stroman allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings in his final outing Wednesday when he threw 65 pitches.
“Obviously he got to command it,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday morning. “That’s the biggest thing is being where he wants on the plate, having a presence on both sides of the plate. Can’t just live on one side and hopefully go out and get off to a good start.”
Stroman was 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA last season with the Yankees when he threw 154 2/3 innings.
He is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA in eight career starts against the A’s.
–Field Level Media