PORT ST. LUCIE — Sporting blue and orange with a thick beard, Luis Severino struck a different figure than he did with the Yankees on a backfield mound Sunday afternoon at Clover Park.
The right-hander threw live batting practice for the first time in a Mets uniform Sunday morning, facing Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, Harrison Bader and Brandon Nimmo. Severino struck out five and gave up a home run to Alonso, which elicited cheers from the crowd of fans watching on one of the backfields — and jeers from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who jokingly encouraged the crowd not to cheer for him homering off of his own teammate.
“Everything was really, really good,” Severino told the Daily News. “Seeing all of my pitches and the command was what I was looking forward to. Maybe I struggled with that command but everything was actually really good.”
This was a far cry from last summer when Severino said he felt like “the worst pitcher in the game.” An All-Star in 2017 and 2018, injuries and ineffectiveness led to two bad seasons and the Yankees let him walk as a free agent after last year.
The Mets believe that they have enough data to be able to predict a bounce-back season for the right-hander. The 30-year-old Dominican has been working to increase the amount of vertical movement on his slider. He’s made mechanical adjustments to throw it more like he did in 2017 when he said it was the best it had ever been. The Mets are also trying to get him to increase the vertical movement on his four-seam fastball.
“The biggest thing last year that we saw with the four-seamer was that it would die and cut on him, and his mechanics kind of lead to that, he would kind of fall towards first base,” Hefner told The News. “We’ve talked a lot about posture and driving the ball through the catcher. We’re seeing the vert be up in the 17-18-19 range in bullpens, which is where it was when he was really, really good. That’s where it was. And so like that’s kind of our marker for him.”
The vertical movement was on display during his live BP session.
“The feedback from hitters was that there was life on his fastball,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was using all of his pitches, threw some changeups to right-handers, and the slider. But he’s one of those where it’s, how is he going to bounce back the next day and the following day? But he’s looking good and he’s feeling great. He’s sticking to his routine, getting into the weight room in the training room. He’s on a good track right now.”
Severino started looking at ways to improve his overall health. This winter, he emphasized nutrition and sleep. He enlisted the help of a sleep doctor and learned what to eat and when to benefit his sleep patterns. He also hired a personal chef.
“There are a lot of tips we can do,” Severino said. “If you’re going to be up to 10 — spring training 9 — don’t lay in bed watching TV. Turn everything off, no lights, even if you’re not tired. If you spend 25 minutes or 15 minutes in the dark, you’re still resting.”
The Severino family is happy to be in New York for another year. They’re happy in the area and so is he. It’s a tough place to play for many, but Severino appreciates the way fans in New York care.
But the last time fans in New York saw Severino, they saw a shell of the pitcher he once was. He was doubled over in pain on the Yankee Stadium mound. He’ll get another chance to show that he’s still the pitcher that electrified a city seven years ago.
The Mets are confident that he’ll make the most of that chance.
“At his best, he’s someone who can lock it down, pound the zone, throw multiple pitches, confident on the mound, not scared to pitch the contact, not scared to reach back if you need to strike out, doesn’t waste pitches,” Bader, his former teammate in the Bronx, said. “The classic ace type. He’s certainly got it in there.”
