QUEENS, N.Y. — Luis Severino knew he had something special brewing on the very first pitch of the game when he pumped a 95-mph sinker past Chicago Cubs lead-off man Nico Hoerner.
“I was feeling good even in the bullpen [before the game],” Severino admitted.
Monday night at Citi Field saw the 30-year-old right-hander put up his finest start to date as a member of the Mets after signing a one-year deal to jump across the Hudson River from the Yankees in the Bronx to Queens. Severino carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson broke the bid up with a clean single to left with no outs in the penultimate frame.
He allowed that singular hit in 101 pitches while striking out five, walking two, and hitting a batter. In a 1-0 game he yielded the tying run with one out in the eighth when third baseman Joey Wendle unsuccessfully tried to turn a double play on a slowly-hit dribbler by Nick Madrigal rather than going home for what appeared like a sure out to cut down the tying run in Michael Busch.
Mets closer Edwin Diaz ultimately allowed a two-run home run to Christopher Morel in the ninth to relegate the Mets to a hard-luck loss, but Severino’s outing provided a considerable silver lining.
He threw six different pitches during his no-hit bid: a 96-mph four-seam fastball (37), a 95-mph sinker (27), an 86-mph sweeper (14), an 86-mph changeup (9), an 87-mph slider (8), and a 93-mph cutter (6). They prompted 13 whiffs and 13 balls in play that were considered soft contact.
“The fastball, the command was outstanding,” Severino said. “Even everything with the breaking pitches — the sweeper was really good, too.”
His manager, Carlos Mendoza, has seen an awful lot of Severino over the years from their decade together with the Yankees. Monday night reminded him of the type of pitcher that was one of the best in baseball from 2017-2018 when he garnered two All-Star appearances and finished in the top 10 of the AL Cy Young Award voting each of those seasons, going a combined 33-14 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.092 WHIP.
“It’s pretty close,” Mendoza said. “That was probably as good as I’ve seen him, especially using his fastball. In, out, up, down, it was electric. It was one of those outings where you go, ‘OK, this is the Sevy that I know.'”
First injuries, then pitch-tipping issues derailed Severino’s career in the Bronx. He had the worst season of his career last year with the Yankees, posting a 6.65 ERA across 19 appearances (18 starts).
With a full, healthy winter to work within the Mets’ pitching lab, Severino looks like the 2017 version of himself. He shook off a difficult Mets debut on March 30 against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he allowed six runs (three earned) on 11 hits in five innings to take over the role of ace with Kodai Senga recovering from a shoulder strain.
In his last five starts, he has thrown 30.0 innings — an average of six per start for a Mets’ rotation that has had problems getting length from its arms — with a 1.80 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Along with mechanical adjustments has come a change in philosophy. This is not a pitcher determined to strike out the world. Instead, his starts are about eating innings by recording outs efficiently.
“I think so,” Severino said when asked if he believes that he is back to where he thought he could be. “I feel pretty good. When I was a little younger, I was thinking too much about striking everybody out. Right now, I’m just focused on getting people out and getting deep in the game. So right now, I’m in a different position right now. It’s more important to throw innings than striking everybody out.”
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