Luis Severino Ballpark Criticism: “I'm Not the Only One That Feels That Way”

Athletics ace Luis Severino certainly hasn't been shy when it comes to how he feels about pitching in West Sacramento, which he likened to pitching in a Spring Training facility recently. These comments were sandwiched in between a report that the Chicago Cubs are keeping an eye on Severino as a potential trade deadline acquisition, along with another report that the A's "can't wait" to trade him.

On Sunday in New York, the 31-year-old had his second consecutive rough road outing against a top team in the American League, lasting just 3 2/3 innings, giving up five hits, three walks, seven runs (six earned) and striking out three. In 7 2/3 innings of work against the Yankees this season he has combined to give up 14 earned runs.

With the recent reports swirling, and Severino's poor outing against the Yankees on Sunday still fresh, he was asked about potentially being traded, and the A's potentially being upset with his comments about the ballpark.

Severino was asked about the recent trade rumors 👀 pic.twitter.com/VFioFL7Yi1
— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 29, 2025

"I mean, if they trade me or not, I'm gonna keep grinding and trying to be my best self. I can't do nothing about whether they get mad or not. I just say what it is. I'm not gonna go out there 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 gonna figure it out if it's a lie or not.

"My job is here, trying to pitch. If you ask me a question, be honest. That's what I did. I wasn't trying to hurt nobody's feelings by saying that, but I'm not the only one that feels the same way. I will do my best to concentrate on what I need to do. Concentrate on getting better. I feel pretty good, I feel healthy. I feel like movement on my pitches is there. I just need to get in a good stretch."

The problem with this season has been that the A's have been trying to control the narrative about this team all season, whether that's from the initial move up to Sacramento out of Oakland in the first place, to blocking silent protesters in "Sell" shirts behind the A's in-stadium broadcast setup, they have pushed back on negative views of what they're doing instead of trying to make things better.

In fairness, the staff that is there on a day-to-day basis are doing the best they can while being dealt a pretty awful hand.

With the "Sell" shirts, nobody had noticed the protest for a few games until they sent multiple security guards to block him from the cameras. That created the news story, not the initial protest. At a point during the last homestand, they just moved the setup so that the cameras face the field instead of the stands to avoid anyone making a statement.

Before the report that the A's couldn't wait to trade Severino, there was an argument that could have been made that while it may look bad to move him after they'd handed him the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history only to trade him seven months later, he's also arguably their biggest trade piece as the deadline nears on another disappointing season.

Now if he gets traded it will be because he spoke out about the playing surface of the field that they've been handed. They could have just done it quietly and it would have had a quick news cycle, but now it's something that will follow the club for the next month, or beyond.

It's also worth pointing out that he said he's not the only one that feels this way (about the field in Sacramento), presumably alluding to other teammates that have been quiet on the matter. Since Severino has his free agent contract, perhaps he feels like he's able to speak up more, while a large swath of the A's roster is still fairly young and working towards free agent deals of their own.