Luis Severino Has Three Words For His Approach to Pitching in Sacramento in 2026

After a season of struggles in Sacramento, Luis Severino addresses what needs to be done in 2026

Jul 24, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Athletics starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) delivers a pitch during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

When Opening Day rolls around for the A's in Toronto, it will most likely be right-hander Luis Severino back on the mound to kick off the 2026 season. Last season the A's finished with a 76-86 record, which included a tough 1-20 stretch from May and into June.

With the improvement that the club showed outside of those three weeks, there is hope that the A's will be challenging for a postseason berth in 2026. One big piece to making that goal a reality could end up being Severino, who struggled in his first year with the A's.

At home in Sacramento, Severino held a 6.01 ERA, though he was able to have a bit of course correction at the end of the year, posting a 3.00 ERA at Sutter Health across his last 21 innings, spanning four starts. On the road he finished with a 3.02 ERA, so no notes there.

Severino on why 2026 will be different for the A's

Jul 29, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) throws a pitch against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

On A's Cast this week, the ace of the A's staff was asked if he's noticed more confidence, even at this early stage in camp, with the guys the A's have in the clubhouse in Mesa.

"The good thing is we have a great group of guys. Kurtz [won] Rookie of the Year, Sodey [Tyler Soderstrom] had a great season. Jacob Wilson too. For them, I think that's not enough. They wanna go out there and give more. That's the mentality that I like for our team.

"They're not satisfied with awards and stuff. They wanna go out there and compete."

Severino was then asked about how comfortable he is going into year two. This will be both his second year with the A's, and his second year pitching in Sacramento. In an effort to literally build in some comfortability for Severino, the A's are adding a "Severino Room" in each dugout at SHP to give pitchers a place to get away just a little bit.

"Yeah, I think everybody is more comfortable. The pitchers have had a year in Sacramento to figure out what we need to do. I think this year, we just need to stop making excuses, go out there and compete, and try to win more games."

Those three words, "stop making excuses" could play a big role in 2026.

Severino wasn't the only one

Aug 6, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Athletics starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs (59) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

While Severino's comments made the rounds because he came from a huge media market in New York and was asked by visiting New York media what he thought of the ballpark, he also wasn't the only veteran player having a tough time making the adjustments.

At the end of the year we talked to Jeffrey Springs, who mentioned the tough time he had getting to Sacramento and then trying to get the juices flowing like he was pitching in a big-league ballpark. He noted that it's hard to miss the missing extra decks, so the veteran guys had to figure out how to trick their brains.

His splits weren't as massive, but there was still a bit of a gap. The veteran lefty held a 4.81 ERA at home, with a 3.45 ERA on the road. He also made it sound as though the excuses were behind him, and that he'd figured out his trick to being effective at home. How well the A's pitchers do in Sacramento this season will have a big impact on their season.