What Luis Severino Brings to the Table as A's Opening Day Starter
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While the Athletics’ Opening Day roster isn’t set in stone with a few Spring Training games remaining, we do now know one thing for certain. On Thursday, A’s manager Mark Kotsay announced that Luis Severino will take the mound on Opening Day against Toronto next week. This will be Severino’s second straight season as the A’s Opening Day starter.
Last season against Seattle, Severino threw six shutout innings on Opening Day and only allowed three hits in the process. Ultimately though, he ended up with no decision as the A’s were unable to maintain their lead after he exited the game. That was also the game where then-first baseman Tyler Soderstrom announced his presence with a two-homer game.
While Severino finished with a 4.54 ERA overall last season, with a notably poor 6.01 ERA at home, the right-hander had a solid finish to the season, posting a 3.10 ERA after the break and turning around those Sacramento woes with a 3.00 ERA in his final four home starts.
Sky-High Confidence
Severino is coming off of a very strong performance at the World Baseball Classic where he represented the Dominican Republic. He finished the tournament tied for second in strikeouts with 11.
In two WBC starts, Severino pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs. Importantly, he showed his ability to remain calm under intense pressure. Against the United States, he struck out Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber with two runners in scoring position to maintain the Dominican Republic’s lead in the semifinal matchup.
Following a performance like that, Severino’s confidence should be sky-high heading into his start next Friday against the Blue Jays which can only be a good thing for the Athletics. He also tends to pitch well when there is more at stake, and an Opening Day game against last year's AL World Series representatives is a nice way to throw him into the fire.
Increased Velocity
During the World Baseball Classic, it was clear that Severino’s velocity had taken a step forward this season. Last season Severino averaged 95.6 MPH on his fastball. At the WBC though, that number was up to an average of 98.3 MPH, nearly three miles per hour faster than last season. Part of that could be the increased emotion of the WBC, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on in 2026.
Last season, his fastball was in the 76th percentile for velocity according to Baseball Savant, but if he’s able to get back to a similar velo level that he had with the New York Yankees earlier in his career, he could be in the 90th percentile or higher this season.
In 2017, he averaged 97.5 MPH which put him in the 97th percentile. It’s a bit unrealistic to expect him to maintain the 98.3 MPH average across a full season, but he’s shown in the past he can hover around that number.
Severino relies on six different pitches: fastball, sweeper, sinker, cutter, changeup, and slider. While he rarely breaks out the changeup and slider, they are certainly a valuable part of his arsenal that keep opposing hitters honest. Using those pitches, Severino was able to put himself in the 83rd percentile for barrel rate last season.
The A’s are hoping that Severino takes a step forward in his second season in Sacramento, and it certainly seems like that’ll be the case based upon what we’ve seen from his limited performance in Spring Training and the World Baseball Classic. With that being said, it’s been a limited sample size and he’ll face a tough test out of the gate against the Blue Jays.
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William has been a sports journalist for nearly a decade. He previously covered the A's on occasion at Sports Radio Service. He also covers quite a few teams in the Bay Area including the San Jose Sharks, Earthquakes, and Bay FC.
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