Luis Severino lit up again as Orioles obliterate Yankees to split 4-game set – The Denver Post

The Yankees have a serious problem, and his name is Luis Severino.

The starter stumbled and then some again on Thursday as the second-place Orioles beat the third-place Yankees, 14-1, in the Bronx. The Yankees had a chance to win their four-game series against their division rivals after taking the first two games, but a Wednesday loss and Severino’s continued struggles resulted in a split.

“No one likes getting beat over the head,” Aaron Boone said afterward, “but it’s also part of it.”

Severino put himself and his team in an immediate hole, as Gunnar Henderson led off with a home run. The Yankees’ righty didn’t allow any more runs in the first or second innings, but a Baltimore bombardment knocked Severino out before could finish the third frame.

While a would-be strike-three call and some defensive mishaps — particularly from Isiah Kiner-Falefa in left field — worked against Severino, there was no excusing the hurler’s performance. Severino totaled just eight outs while giving up seven earned runs and 11 hard-hit balls. He only walked one and struck out three over 77 pitches.

“Sometimes, things don’t go your way” Severino said. “I’m not doing my job right now.

Albert Abreu, the first man out of the pen, was charged with six more runs.

Thursday’s clunker was hardly an anomaly, as Severino has now allowed 33 earned runs and 53 hits over his last seven starts, a span that includes 31.1 innings. For his season, he’s given up 40 runs over nine starts and 42.2 innings.

For reference, the 29-year-old only surrendered 36 earned runs across 19 starts and 102 innings last season.

While Severino has enjoyed some strong starts this season — he threw six scoreless innings two turns ago — the majority of his outings have been disappointing at best. Severino now has a 7.38 ERA this year.

“I don’t feel good about any of my pitches right now,” Severino said.

Pitching coach Matt Blake called the root of Severino’s woes “a moving target.” Blake noted that Severino’s problems have included his fastball command, the shape of his breaking ball, execution, controlling counts and staying in rhythm. Blake also said the Yankees have been monitoring Severino’s delivery.

“The pitch execution comes and goes a little bit in different spurts,” Blake continued. “Obviously, we’re facing some good lineups here, and it’s going to happen from time to time. This is a little bit excessive for Sevy. Historically, he’s been a good major league pitcher. He’s had success here. He knows what it looks like. So that’s the hard part. He holds himself to a high standard and we hold him to a high standard. Anytime it gets away from that, and then it snowballs on him, it becomes a bigger thing, and we got to keep trying to minimize it and get back to focusing on things that he can control, and that’s his execution and his pitch shapes and his delivery.”

Severino, unprompted, mentioned the possibility of tipping multiple times when discussing his troubles, though he didn’t definitively conclude that that’s the answer. Blake said that the Yankees regularly monitor their pitchers for that, and he didn’t think tipping was Severino’s issue on Thursday.

While Severino said that he is physically fine, Blake said that the pitcher’s long injury history has forced him to adjust his delivery over time. Blake went on to state the Severino is “trying to revisit what he looked like” when he was at his best in 2017 and 2018, as well as parts of last season.

Severino alluded to that idea, as he said he’s been watching old videos of himself as he tries to correct course. He’s also been talking to the Yankees’ catchers and staff.

“The execution isn’t there, and we got to dig on everything to get him locked in everywhere from delivery, deception, all those things,” Boone said. “So we’ll keep digging on it and try and get him to where we know he can get to.”

There is also the matter of Severino’s mindset, which Blake called “a big component.”

“He’s as strong as anyone in handling this, and that’s important,” Blake said. “He’s gone through a lot and he’s obviously navigated different circumstances. This is obviously one of the more challenging of his career just in terms of the lack of success while he’s on the field. Typically, it’s the injury bug that gets him.”

While Boone said that Severino’s confidence has “probably” been shaken “a little bit,” the pitcher said that’s not the case.

“This doesn’t affect my confidence,” Severino said. “I know the kind of pitcher that I am. I’ve just not been myself. I’ve never been this bad of a pitcher my whole life, so it’s just a little tough to get my head around.”

The Orioles scored seven runs in the third inning before adding five more in the fourth. They pushed another across the plate in the eighth, which went to Wandy Peralta.

Things got so out of hand that Kiner-Falefa, a utilityman, had to pitch for the fourth time this season.

Henderson added a second homer — a three-run shot — off Abreu in the fourth inning and paced his team with five RBI and four hits. Ryan O’Hearn wasn’t far behind, driving in four while picking up three hits.

Adam Frazier also recorded three knocks as the Orioles recorded 20 hits.

While Severino never gave the Yankees a chance, their offense didn’t exactly fight back. The Bombers tallied six hits on the evening while Kyle Bradish logged six scoreless innings for Baltimore.

The Yankees’ only run came with two outs in the ninth when Billy McKinney hit a hard ground ball. First baseman Ramón Urías was charged with an error on the play.

Thursday’s loss was the latest in a line of ugly ones for the Yankees, but the team and its fans will wake up with a reason to be excited on Friday.

Carlos Rodón will make his long-awaited Yankees debut after a forearm strain and a nagging back delayed the start of his season. The left-handed starter, the team’s biggest offseason addition, inked a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees in December following two consecutive All-Star seasons with the White Sox and Giants.

“I’m excited to get him back in play tomorrow,” Aaron Boone said before Thursday’s game. “I know he’s, on some level, chomping at the bit to get out there and wants to help.

“But most importantly, I feel like physically, he’s in a good spot to go out there and be Carlos Rodón.”

While Rodón continues to build up at the major league level after three rehab starts, ex-Yankee Jameson Taillon will start the series opener for the Cubs.

Taillon, who signed a four-year, $68 million deal over the winter, is off to a rough start in Chicago. The righty owns a 6.93 ERA this season.

With Rodón coming back and Severino scuffling, it’s possible the latter could be forced from the rotation if things don’t get better down the road.

But Boone dismissed a question about skipping Severino’s next start while noting the All-Star break is coming up. Severino said he will use some of that time to take his mind off of baseball, but he’ll continue to dive into his issues.

And as for the possibility of losing his starting job?

“That’s not my choice,” Severino said. “I just need to figure out what’s going on.”

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