A's Starter Luis Severino Added to Dominican Republic's WBC Roster
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The A's officially have a representative headed to the World Baseball Classic, and it's none other than ace of the staff, Luis Severino. His inclusion on the roster was announced by the official WBC Twitter/X page.
In recent days there have been a number of players making some noise about not being able to get insured for the World Baseball Classic, with the majority of those players coming from Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Dominican Republic hasn't been hit as hard by this unforeseen obstacle, though they will seemingly be without Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
According to The Athletic, the insurance worries are heightened after the 2023 WBC where both Jose Altuve and Edwin Díaz suffered injuries that impacted their regular seasons. They go into a lot more depth on the insurance issue in the article, but that is the quick version.
As for Severino, after signing what was originally the largest contract in A's history at three years and $67 million, he ended up struggling for the first half of the season, especially at home. He finished the year with a 4.54 ERA in 162 2/3 innings of work while holding a 1.30 WHIP.
This season he'll be looking to be the leader that he was brought in to be last winter. Last week we noted three reasons why A's fans should be optimistic about Severino turning things around in 2026, and while those reasons still hold true, the righty pitching in the WBC does add a wrinkle to the calculus.
The WBC wrinkle
The main talking point surrounding Severino last season was that he struggled at home, holding a 6.01 ERA in Sacramento, while boasting a 3.02 on the road. He was obviously throwing the ball well last year, but something about pitching at home just prevented him from clicking at the beginning of the season.
In his final few starts at Sutter Health he held a 3.00 ERA, which is a vast improvement, but it was also a small sample size that we're dealing with. You can be optimistic about that stretch, or completely discount it depending on your viewpoint.
But the big wrinkle with the WBC, especially if he's pitching later into the tournament, is that the crowds will be big. They'll be loud. He'll be in an atmosphere that is unlike any other in the game.
At the end of last season, Jeffrey Springs brought up that it was difficult for some of the more veteran guys like him and Sevvy to get the juices flowing like normal when they were pitching in Sacramento, because it's easy to notice the levels of the ballpark that are missing when you're out there. He also said that he figured out how to adjust to that later in the season.
The question with Severino in the WBC is whether being around that intense atmosphere and then landing back in Sacramento is going to be a huge shock like it was a year ago, or if he'll be able to take his learned mentality from last year and apply it more quickly this season.
It should also help that the A's will have what they're calling "The Severino Room" for pitchers to go to in the dugout when their teammates are batting. Another one of the things that Severino had difficulty with last season was not being able to go to the clubhouse when he wasn't on the mound. This is supposed to help with that aspect of his starts.
There are some obstacles to Severino finding his groove at Sutter Health next season, but there also seems to be more in place that will make the adjustment a little smoother, too. We'll just have to wait and see how he's pitching both in the WBC, and then by comparison in the regular season.
The Dominican Republic's schedule begins on Friday, March 6 against Nicaragua and will be held at loanDepot Park in Miami.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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