How Mets’ Luis Severino, self-described 'worst pitcher' in baseball, began to reclaim his career

It was one of the more memorable self-assessments to come out of a locker room last year, when Luis Severino, after allowing nine runs to the Orioles on July 30, said, “I feel like I’m the worst pitcher in the game.”

That candor -- which, along with intelligence, is one of Severino’s defining characteristics -- was in evidence again on Aug. 9, when the White Sox scored four on him in two innings. “I’m just having the worst year of my life in baseball,” Severino said that day.

His stuff was still solid, his fastball firm, his velocity good. Yet in some intangible but observable way, Severino seemed broken.

Carlos Mendoza was there, as the Yankee bench coach who had a seat in the dugout for most of Severino's career.

And he was there as Mets manager on Wednesday at Citi Field, when Severino utilized his newly varied repertoire to defeat Pittsburgh and improve his season ERA to 2.14.

What was the biggest difference between Severino in 2023 and the Severino we’re seeing right now?

“Confidence,” Mendoza said. “He is staying on the attack.”

Severino seemed to agree.

“Last year I would have no confidence in myself,” he said. “Everybody in his career has a tough year.  I learned from that year, and came into this year with a better mentality.”

Beyond the emotional component of his game, Severino and Mendoza pointed to several more tangible improvements.

For years, Severino was a power pitcher, making use of a high-velocity slider along with his fastball. Over the winter, he worked at Driveline Baseball, the facility responsible for helping many pitchers wiggle out of a down portion of their careers.

There, he split his hard slider into a cutter and a sweeper. Neither was as powerful as his old slider, but the two offerings combined to show hitters different speeds and different looks.

Mendoza likes the new mix better. “Everything was hard,” the manager said. “Now, he’s got more depth.”

One of the great mysteries of Severino’s 2023 season was that his fastball averaged 96.5 miles per hour. Plagued in previous years by injury, he was healthy and strong. And yet his ERA was 6.65.

After Wednesday’s game, Severino offered insight into that pitch, and why it is playing better than it did last year.

“Ninety-seven at 14 to 17 is not the same as 95-96 at 20 or 19,” he said, making heavy use of pitching jargon that we will explain momentarily. “That 19, that 20 is hardest to hit.”

Neither this writer nor most of his readers knew what that meant, but a Mets staffer helped to clarify.

“He is talking about hop/vertical break/ride,” the helpful Met explained, noting that the number Severino cited is not available on the popular website baseballsavant.com, but does flash on the Citi Field scoreboard after every pitch. “The ball is staying flatter (fighting gravity more) thus deceiving the hitter.”

In other words, Severino has added ride to his velocity, creating a more powerful fastball. Played off his new cutter/sweeper mix, which features variances in speed, and a changeup and sinker that helps him get ground balls, and Severino looks like a more complete pitcher.

There is one other factor, and not a small one, that plays into both Severino’s effectiveness and his confidence: pitch tipping, and the apparent lack thereof.

As a Yankee, Severino was one of the most egregious tippers in the sport. One Yankees insider estimated that Severino has struggled with no fewer than 10 tells over the years, the most glaring of which was showing the ball to base coaches.

In a quieter moment on Wednesday, after the scrum around his locker dispersed, Severino said that he believed he had cleaned up that part of his game.

“Every [game], I ask our guys if they see anything, and they say no,” he said.

And so, he is able to proceed with a cleaner delivery, a clearer mind, and a more effective mix of pitches.

And none of those intrusive thoughts about being the worst pitcher in the game.