Ex-Yankees mates prolong Sevy's struggles at home

WEST SACRAMENTO -- This was not the revenge game Luis Severino was hoping for.

Making his first career start against the Yankees – the team he spent his first eight Major League seasons with after signing out of the Dominican Republic as an 18-year-old in 2012 – Severino turned in his shortest outing of the season for the Athletics in Sunday’s 12-2 loss to New York at Sutter Health Park.

“I’m sure Sevy is disappointed in the outing,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “He didn’t have his command. … When he had to come into the zone, they made solid contact. They had a good game plan against him.”

Admittedly carrying a bit of an extra edge as he squared off with some familiar faces, Severino came out firing. His 1-2-3 first inning was highlighted by a strikeout of Aaron Judge on a wicked 84.7 mph sweeper that started over the middle before quickly shifting to the outer part of the zone for a swinging strike three.

The second was where the wheels fell off. Beginning with a leadoff double by Paul Goldschmidt, Severino faced five consecutive batters before recording his first out in what ended up as a five-run inning for New York.

With the A’s offense struggling to mount much of an attack against Yankees starter Ryan Yarbrough, the goal for Severino soon shifted into how much he could preserve the bullpen. Working into the fifth inning, the right-hander was pulled at 97 pitches (57 strikes) and tagged with a season-high eight earned runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts in four-plus innings.

“He gave us everything he had,” Kotsay said. “He wanted to go back out and try to get through that fifth inning to cover the bullpen. That’s the teammate he is. That’s what we talk about in terms of leadership.”

It was another display of why the A’s valued Severino’s clubhouse presence so highly and awarded him the largest free-agent contract in franchise history in December. But the early troubling pattern of severe home/road splits continues.

Through six starts at Sutter Health Park, Severino is 0-4 and holds a 6.75 ERA with 14 walks, 29 strikeouts and four home runs allowed in 34 2/3 innings. On the road, he’s nearly unhittable, going 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts with five walks, 11 strikeouts and no homers across 19 innings.

“It’s tough to pitch here,” Severino said. “You have a routine for your whole life. You come here and you have to work around whatever you have here. It’s tough. But like I always say, this is what we have. We have to do anything we can to go out there and compete.”

Severino has been open about the challenges he has encountered while pitching at Sutter Health Park, the A’s temporary home ballpark from 2025-27 before a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.

The main difference between pitching here as opposed to other MLB ballparks is the lack of a connected clubhouse. In the past, Severino had grown accustomed to heading inside the clubhouse during the innings he is not on the mound to either watch film or move around to keep his body warm. At Sutter Health Park, the A’s clubhouse is situated behind left field, which confines him to the dugout between innings.

“Usually, I go inside and watch the game on TV and maybe get on the exercise bike a little bit or do something,” Severino said. “It’s tough sometimes to be out there in the dugout for a long time, to just sit there and do nothing because there’s nothing to do. It’s just different, and everybody is different.”

During Spring Training, Kotsay said he hoped that the A’s could utilize the unique nature of playing their home games at a Minor League ballpark – albeit with several Major League upgrades – to their advantage. So far, the A’s are 8-13 at home while holding the Majors’ highest road winning percentage at .650 (13-7).

The A’s will head on the road for the next week. But figuring out those home struggles, especially for their No. 1 starter in Severino, remains of the utmost importance.

“That’s something we’re going to try to help with and dive into,” Kotsay said. “Any time a player talks about this place in terms of being a little uncomfortable, we’ll have that conversation and see how we can turn that mindset around and create a positive mindset about what we’re capable of doing here.”