What Luis Severino Brings to the A's

The A's have officially signed former New York Met and Yankee Luis Severino with what is being announced as a two-year deal with a player option for the third year in 2027, according to the Athletics. The deal is reportedly worth $67 million over the three seasons and comes with a $10 million signing bonus.

So what kind of pitcher are the A's getting for that kind of commitment?

Well, he'll be starting Opening Day, along with bringing plenty of big-market experience to the up-and-coming Athletics team as they set off on their new adventure in Sacramento.

On the mound, Severino is 65-44 in his career with a cumulative 3.81 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 156 starts and 16 appearances out of the bullpen. In 2017 and 2018, Severino was arguably the ace of the New York Yankees' staff, putting up ERAs of 2.98 and 3.39 while racking up over 190 innings in each campaign.

From that point forward, he'd had some trouble putting up those kinds of innings totals, maxing out at 102 (with a 3.18 ERA) in 2022. That is, until last season with the New York Mets, where he posted a 3.91 ERA across 182 innings. If the A's can get that kind of production from Severino in 2025 and 2026, they'd be thrilled. One ingredient that Mark Kotsay's roster has been lacking is a consistent innings eater, and Severino has a chance to be that for the green and gold.

Severino made 31 starts for the Mets in 2024, and went less than five innings just three times--the same number of occasions he completed eight or more innings. That is absolutely huge for this club.

As for his arsenal, he tosses six pitches, including a mid-90's four-seamer and sinker, both of which comprised his two most-used pitches with the Mets. The sinker is an offering that he had tinkered with for a couple of seasons with the Yankees, but it was more of a once in a while type pitch. Now it appears to be a big part of his arsenal, using it 25% of the time. Only the four-seamer was used more (36%).

The sinker was a big part of the Mets plan with their staff in 2024 by the look of it, with Severino increasing his usage from 2.8% to 25% and Sean Manaea going from 0.8% to 44.7%, while Jose Quintana just continued to utilize his sinker over 30% of the time. All three pitchers ranked in the top-11 in run value for their offerings among pitchers with at least 200 plate appearances using the pitch. Manaea (15 run value) ranked third, with Quintana (12) ranking seventh, and Severino (6) ranked 11th.

Another factor that we have mentioned with numerous A's signees this winter is that Severino, like nearly every pitcher brought in, has a pretty good ground ball rate. While he didn't reach the 50% threshold that has typically been the case this winter, he did have a ground ball rate of 46%, which was good enough to rank in the 72nd percentile.

Added to the ground ball rate is the fact that Severino was keeping the ball off the barrel at a high clip, holding just a 5.7% barrel percentage, which ranked him in the 82nd percentile. His hard hit rate was also good, sitting in the 75th percentile. He doesn't give up hard contact often, limits the walks at a league average rate, and keeps the ball on the ground more than most. That could be a recipe for success in Sacramento with how the park will play being a big question heading into 2025.

While the 4-seam/sinker combo comprises 60% of his pitch mix, it's his third most often used offering that may be the most deadly.

Severino's sweeper (85 mph, 17.2% usage) held a batting average against of just .139 with an expected batting average of .151, and he also held a 38.6% whiff rate on the pitch. Part of the reason it's so effective is because he can use it off of his cutter, which comes in at 92.6 miles per hour, and he can toss in a slider now and again at 87. That's three similar pitch types with different levels of break and velocity, making it difficult for a hitter to predict, or even adjust to, which one is coming.

Among pitchers to use at least 100 sweepers, Severino ranked sixth in whiff% at 38.6%, and his strikeout percentage on the pitch (44.4%) ranked third. Not only is it an effective pitch for him, it's one of the better ones in the league.

The A's bringing in Severino will provide the club with experience, leadership, and some impressive ability to throw the baseball. He should be exciting to watch.