Luis

Severino

The right-hander threw only 53 percent of his pitches for strikes and walked five on the day. He did produce 15 whiffs and a 17 percent swinging strike rate, which led to seven strikeouts, but he was behind in counts far too often. It’s nice that his velocity is up this season, and his cutter and four-seamer do look more impactful as whiff pitches this year; however, his hitter-friendly home park and poor command will make him just a deeper league streamer when he’s on the road.

Severino was solid through the first 4 1/3 innings, but things turned disastrous in the fifth inning when a walk to Kazuma Okamoto and a double allowed to Ernie Clement put runners on second and third with one out. A misplayed ball by outfielders Denzel Clarke and Tyler Soderstrom resulted in a two-RBI triple for Andrés Giménez, which gave the Jays a 2-1 lead. Severino would make it out of the inning, but did not return in the sixth. It was an unfortunate ending for Severino, who allowed just three hits on the night. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Braves, where he will oppose Chris Sale.

Severino’s velocity was up a bit in his lone spring start for the A’s and climbed further in the World Baseball Classic starts for the Dominican Republic, with his average fastball against Team USA on Sunday coming in at 98.6 mph. Tonight, though, he was back down to 96.0 mph, which is essentially what he averaged last year (96.1 mph). Unless tonight’s the fluke, he’s probably not going to be useful in mixed leagues in a really tough situation for pitchers in Sacramento.

It’s the second straight Opening Day assignment for Severino since joining the Athletics — and the third overall in his career. He has been significantly better on the road than he has been at home with the A’s, especially in Sutter Health Park, so perhaps he could be worth a look as a streaming option for Friday’s opener.

Severino’s velocity has been up since his spring debut, but he was especially amped tonight, topping out at 99.8 mph. HIs 98.6 mph average on his fastball was up 2.5 mph from last year. It definitely makes him more interesting for fantasy purposes, but it’s hard to say whether it will hold up, and he’s still pitching half of the time in a fantastic ballpark for hitters in Sacramento.

It’ll be a playoff atmosphere (in mid-March) at loanDepot park in Miami when Skenes squares off against a loaded Dominican Republic lineup that leads the international tournament in runs scored and is coming off a 10-0 shutout win over Korea. United States manager Mark DeRosa told reporters Skenes is slated to throw roughly 75-80 pitches in this outing. It’s a high-profile spot for 23-year-old superstar to face off against one of the best lineups he’s likely to face in his entire career. It’ll be Athletics starter Luis Severino taking the ball for the Dominican Republic. Get your popcorn ready, folks.

The lone run was the result of a Didi Gregorius homer, of course. Severino topped out at 99.3 mph and averaged 98.1 mph with his fastball today. That’s up from 96.1 mph last year and 96.9 mph in his one start for the A’s this spring. It’d be a game changer for Severino if he could maintain that kind of velocity into the regular season, but it’s hard to say if that’s realistic. Severino averaged 97.6 mph with his fastball and had a 29% strikeout rate in his best seasons with the Yankees in 2017 and ’18. Last year, he struck out just 18% of the batters he faced for the A’s.

Severino predicably struggled in his Athletics debut last year while pitching in extremely hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park, finishing with a bloated 4.54 ERA – 4.59 xERA – 1.30 WHIP and 124/50 K/BB ratio across 162 2/3 innings. He can be safely left on the waiver wire at the outset of the season in most fantasy leagues.

Severino averaged 96.9 mph with his four-seamer today, up 0.8 mph from last year, and his secondary pitchers were up even a bit more. Maybe it won’t last, but some extra velocity could be big for a veteran coming off a career-worst 17.6 percent strikeout rate.

Severino finally came through in a home start, picking up just his second win and third quality start in 15 outings in Sacramento. He closes out the second half 6-0 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts to move to 8-11 with a 4.54 ERA overall. The nice finish should help the Athletics’ chances of moving him this winter, if they think that’s for the best. Severino is owed $20 million next year and has a $22 million player option for 2027.