A’s Luis Severino: ‘I’m not the only one’ who feels uncomfortable playing at Sacramento

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NEW YORK — Sacramento A’s starting pitcher Luis Severino doesn’t worry about about speaking his mind.

He called himself the “worst pitcher in the game” after a brutal stretch two years ago. Last season, while playing for the New York Mets, he said that the New York Yankees “only have two good hitters,” referring to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.

So Severino wasn’t going to back down Sunday from his comments earlier in the week bashing the conditions in Sacramento, where the A’s are playing this season as they transition from Oakland to Las Vegas.

And he shrugged at a report saying the organization “can’t wait” to trade him.

“I can’t do nothing about if they get mad or not,” he said after getting roughed up in a 12-5 loss at Yankee Stadium. “I just say what it is.

“If you ask me how I feel pitching at home, I’m not going to lie to you. Because at the end, you guys are going to figure out if it’s a lie or not. My job is here to try to pitch and every time you ask me a question, be honest with you guys. So, that’s what I did.”

Severino said other A’s players feel the way he does about playing at Sutter Health Ballpark, a minor-league stadium.

“I was not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings by saying that,” he said. “But I’m not the only one who feels the same way.”

On Friday, Severino said “it feels like a spring training game” when he pitches at home, and he pointed out the ballpark’s lack of air conditioning, small crowds and how its clubhouse is in left field.

“It’s really tough,” he said.

Early Sunday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the A’s “can’t wait” to trade Severino and that he was “agitating the organization” with his comments about their current home stadium.

“If they trade me or not, I’m going to keep grinding,” he said. “Trying to be my best going out there.”

Manager Mark Kotsay deflected when asked if he thought Severino would be with the A’s after the trade deadline.

“Those decisions are above me,” he said. “I mean, I’m involved in them. Obviously, I have a voice. But as far as what we do at the deadline, we’re still far away from the deadline. There’s still, what, over three weeks to get there or more. We’ll tackle that question when we get closer.”

The A’s signed Severino to a three-year, $67 million deal in December — the richest guaranteed contract in franchise history.

The problem for Severino? The A’s might call Sacramento home for a while.

Luis Severino has allowed at least five earned runs in five of his 10 starts at Sutter Health Park. (Dennis Lee / Imagn Images)

The club had a stadium groundbreaking ceremony Monday in Las Vegas, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the Las Vegas Review Journal that “we’re glad that we’ll have a team here in ’28.”

Kotsay added that he believes Severino’s frustration with Sutter Health Ballpark “comes from when you don’t have success.” Severino is 0-7 with a 6.79 ERA in 10 starts at home. On the road, he’s 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA in eight starts. He gave up six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings Sunday on three strikeouts, three walks and five hits, including a three-run home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and a two-run shot to Judge.

“For Sevy,” Kotsay said, “he can talk about it, but I think at the end of the day, when he’s asked by the players and by his teammates, he understands our situation. He’s not looking to make excuses about performance. You have to just pitch better.”

Severino was also the victim of defensive lapses Sunday, including a popup that fell for a hit due to miscommunication, a dropped fly ball and a ball that bounced under the glove of center fielder Denzel Clarke, guaranteeing a bases-clearing triple for Chisholm in the third inning.

“At this level,” Kotsay said, “those plays should be made.”

But Severino also said that worries that he was tipping pitches when the Detroit Tigers rocked him for seven runs in his previous outing leaked into his performance Sunday.

He said that he tried to correct possible pitch tipping in a bullpen session at Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon. During the session, someone from the A’s placed a towel over the bullpen camera — presumably so that the Yankees use it to watch Severino work. The feed from the visiting bullpen camera is displayed in the Yankees’ dugout, along with a feed from the home bullpen. The Yankees surely can watch the feed elsewhere, too.

“ Today, if you see the last game compared to (this) one, I changed my mechanics,” Severino said. “I changed my glove positioning because I feel I was not having rhythm. I was thinking too much about the tipping thing.”

He didn’t lie about how he’s been pitching lately, either.

“It’s not been the best stretch,” he said. “I feel I was very good on the road and then the last two starts have not been very good. Just need to figure it out.”

(Top photo: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

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