Luis Severino Shows He'll Be Ace the A's Need in 2026

A's ace Luis Severino took the mound on Sunday evening to take on a stacked Team USA lineup. This would be Severino's second start for the Dominican Republic, and this time, he'd have to duel superstar Pittsburgh Pirates ace, and one of the best pitchers in the game, Paul Skenes.

Severino made his first start on March 8 against the Netherlands, where he tossed four innings and allowed just one run and punched out five opposing hitters.

In the first inning, Severino would get hot, touching nearly triple digits. The increase in velocity certainly helped as he struck out his first two batters, Bobby Witt Jr. and Bryce Harper. He would give up a hit to AL MVP and his former teammate, Aaron Judge, and then plunked Kyle Schwarber. Severino then bared down to get Gunnar Henderson to ground out.

Added velocity will come in handy

Luis Severino's average velocity in the 1st inning:

Sinker: 98.8 MPH (Up 3.2 MPH from 2025)
4-Seam: 97.7 MPH (Up 1.6 MPH from 2025)
Cutter: 95.7 MPH (Up 2.5 MPH from 2025)

Throwing heat early ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/IJK41acA87
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) March 16, 2026

American catcher Will Smith would come out of the gates hot with a leadoff single in the second inning. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony would get punched out looking, and then Severino would get his ground ball from Brice Turang, which was good for an inning-ending double play.

The Dominican Republic would give Sevy some run support in the bottom of the second, as Rays' young star Junior Caminero would hit a home run off Paul Skenes to give Team DR the lead.

Now pitching with a slight cushion, Severino would come out for an electric third inning. Cubs' star Pete Crow-Armstrong would strike out swinging, before Bobby Witt Jr. and Bryce Harper would single and double to put a pair of runners in scoring position.

Escaping a huge jam, showing he's ready to lead A's in 2026

Severino would have to face Judge, who already had a hit off him in the first inning, and he would get a massive punch-out before facing the tough Kyle Schwarber. After a battle between Sevy and Schwarber, Severino would get a huge strikeout to escape the jam. He celebrated as he left the mound, showing that he's built for these big game moments.

LUIS SEVERINO ESCAPES WITH HIS 6TH STRIKEOUT 🔥#WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/2njl0gKJg7
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 16, 2026

The outing that seemed to be going so well for Severino would come to a halt in the 4th inning, as Gunnar Henderson would hit a leadoff home run to tie the game. Severino would stay in to face Will Smith and would get him to line out before being replaced by Gregory Soto to face Roman Anthony.

Unfortunately for Team Dominican Republic, Soto would give up a home run immediately to Anthony, which gave the USA a 2-1 lead, and the score would remain the same for the rest of the game.

The A's ace ultimately finished with a line of 3 1/3 innings pitched, five hits allowed, one run, no walks, and punched out six Americans. Since his team has now been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, Luis Severino will return to the A's Spring Training camp to finish preparing for the 2026 season. The team's rotation also appears to be set with one week remaining.

With the elimination of the Dominican Republic, this now means the A's have no more players on any of the three remaining teams in the World Baseball Classic. Former A's closer Mason Miller and Team USA are heading to the finals to take on either Team Italy or Team Venezuela. Those two teams will match up on Monday, with the final game set for Tuesday. Both games begin at 5:00 p.m. (PDT).

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