WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Luis Severino has a sidewall corner locker in the Athletics’ tiny clubhouse that’s behind the left-field wall in a ballpark that until this year hosted Triple-A baseball for many years, Sutter Health Park.
The two closest lockers on the backwall to the right-hander is where buddies that he played with on the Yankees dress, left fielder/third baseman Miguel Andujar and infielder Gio Urshela.
Across the room is another former Yankees pitcher, left-hander JP Sears.
“I got my corner here for the Yankees,” Severino said Friday. “We’re gonna take JP (over) here, too!”
In a five-minute interview with Yankees beat writers, Severino did a lot of reminiscing before the start of a weekend series in California’s capital city between his first and current ballclubs. He came up through the Yankees system and was an All-Star starter in 2017 and 2018. Then right after he signed a big contract during 2019 spring training, a string of injuries set in that led into five miserable seasons that included long stints on the injured list and many struggles on the mound.
“I loved it there,” Severino said. “Even growing up, I was a Yankee fan. I’m still a Yankee fan. Those guys, they made me the pitcher I am and the man I am right now. The only thing that would have taken away … how to treat my body better.
“I’m trying to be a little bit more healthy out there. I’m healthy now.”
Severino, 31, had a bounce-back season last year after signing a one-year deal with the Mets, then he pulled a big surprise in the winter signing to play with the rebuilding A’s in year one of their move from Oakland to Sacramento until a new ballpark in Las Vegas opens in 2028 or 2029.
Severino is really fired up to face the Yankees in Sunday’s series finale because he didn’t pitch against them last season. He was lined up to start against his former team at Citi Field last June, but the Mets opted to push him back to start two left-handers. Their reasoning: the Yankees struggled against left-handed pitching.
This rotation switch led to Yankees teammates teasing Severino about not wanting to face him.
Severino responded by taking a shot at them publicly. He said he badly wanted to pitch against the Yankees because they had “only two good hitters.” He was referring to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, of course.
With Soto now on the Mets, Severino was asked on Friday how many good hitters he thinks the Yankees now have.
Laughing, Severino answered, “I’m not sure. On this side (of the country), I’m not able to look at the stats. This is like three hours behind. Definitely Judge is one, I’ll tell you that.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Severino’s “only two good hitters” comments didn’t irk him.
“That’s Sevy being Sevy,” Boone said. “We look forward to facing him. He’s throwing the ball well. He ran out a good year last year being healthy, so I’m happy for him. But those comments, that’s just being Sevy.
“I love the person. I love the competitor. A lot of greatness with us, but obviously a lot of injuries that he had to work his way through. What I’m happy for him and proud of him for is just his continued dedication to it.
“It’s not easy when you have a series of some significant injuries that really cost him a lot of time, and in the prime of his career. And he’s come out of that and done a great job learning how to navigate that and he’s in the midst of a really good career.”
Severino has paid enough attention about the 2025 Yankees to know Judge is off to a great start after winning a second AL MVP last year following a first month that ended with his average below .200.
“I’m trying to figure out what to throw to Judge,” Severino said. “He is having a great season. Usually, this is the bad part of his season, the first month, and he’s hitting .400 with like 20 homers.”
Before Friday’s game, Judge was leading the majors with a .400 average, his 34 RBI were tied for the most and his 11 homers were one behind the leaders.
“He’s just such a good player, and even when he’s not doing good, he’s always the same person,” Severino said. “That’s why he’s one of my favorite teammates I’ve played with. He’s always the same guy when he goes 4-for-4 or 0-for-4. I’m just really happy for him. I feel like every year he just gets better. I don’t know how.”
Severino has pitched well for the A’s, going 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in eight starts while pitching in a ballpark that often is very hitter friendly.
“Pitching here is tough,” Severino said. “Some days the ball is flying, some days isn’t not last time. Last time, the ball was flying to right field and then left field was not flying.
“You have to know how to pitch here. It’s tough. I’m not gonna lie, but at the end this is what we have and this is what we had to deal with.”
Severino has taken on a leadership role for a ballclub that went into the weekend with a 20-18 record after finishing 2024 with a 69-93 record.
“Sevy’s been definitely one of those leaders that you need in the clubhouse that just shows by example,” Sears said. “He shows up every day, works hard. I think he’s done a big part with our Latin players, too, just bridging that gap of communicating well and knowing the plan every night.
Before Severino signed off on joining the A’s for a guaranteed $67 million in a two-year deal that includes a player option for 2027, he called Andujar to get a scouting report on manager Mark Kotsay and the A’s clubhouse atmosphere.
“I think Miggy played a part of it,” Sears said.
Severino acknowledged that.
“We talked about the chemistry in the clubhouse,” he said. “The manager here, everybody. (Andujar) told me great things about it. He told me he feels like this was right when he came to the Yankees. Everybody was just about playing baseball and I like that.”
Severino says he was opened to rejoining the Yankees, who had no interest in a reunion. It came down to returning to Queens or picking the A’s, who blew away the Mets’ two-year, $40-million best-and-final.
“I was open to anybody out there,” Severino said. “I was just waiting for everybody to reach to me. And then at the end, the A’s did a great offer that I couldn’t (turn down), and that was the end of the story.”
Before the interview ended, Severino did gently criticize his old boss. Now sporting a long beard, Severino says he wishes owner Hal Steinbrenner had softened the team policy on facial air prior to this spring training.
“I was pissed (hearing about the change),” Severino said with a smile. “I was mad. I was there and I couldn’t do that. But I’m happy for the guys out there. I feel like sometimes we need (the beard). It was like, ‘I need to shave right now,’ and we worry about that thing too much. Now they can relax and just play baseball.”
Severino hopes to be at his best Sunday when he finally gets to pitch against the Yankees, but not to show them that they made a mistake not keeping him.
“I don’t have nothing to prove nobody,” he said. “I think I proved myself. I just want to be healthy and I found a way to be healthy. I feel good. I’m going to go out there and compete everything I can to win a game.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
