Luis Severino has been trying to work his way back to form for years, having last dominated the league back in 2018 when he was seen as a bonafide Cy Young candidate until injuries stunted his promising career.
But in a way, Severino isn’t trying to work his way back to his 2018 self. If you ask him and manager Aaron Boone, the righty is evolving into a new type of pitcher, one they see turning in similar results to his 2017 and 2018 campaigns.
“I think there’s a more mature version in there too,” Boone said after Severino turned in six innings of one-run ball in a win over the Orioles. “He didn’t have a changeup like this, either. Now he varies, can go cutter/slider, even more into a curveball to go with the changeup that he has a lot of confidence in, and the life on the fastball is there.
“It’s a more refined version.”
Severino certainly has changed his approach on the mound as he distances himself from Tommy John surgery. He still throws his lively fastball nearly half the time, but in 2017 and 2018, he was primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, developing a changeup as a necessary third pitch. Now, he is throwing that changeup 27 percent of the time (compared to 13.6 in 2019), and has begun trusting his new cutter more, which he is throwing nearly as much as his slider.
His fastball is still coming in at an average of 96.3 mph this season, but the arsenal has changed. But Severino believes he’s better for it.
“For me, each year, I just want to grow,” Severino said. “Each year, I grow up more. I’m not thinking about how many people I can strike out. I’m thinking about how many pitches I can save, if I can get a ground ball to get a double play. Each year, I try to be a better pitcher.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch