Mets' Luis Severino finally has found his beast form
Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino delivers against the Cubs during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Luis Severino didn’t get his no-hitter Monday night in the Mets’ stunning 3-1 loss to the Cubs. But in almost every other measurable way, he was perfect, or as close to being the vintage Severino as the Mets possibly could have imagined when they signed him to a one-year, $13 million, prove-it contract this past offseason.
The boxscore will show that Dansby Swanson singled in the eighth inning; the soft, sinking liner (exit velo: 72.9 mph) floated over the head of Francisco Lindor, who could only watch as it dropped into shallow centerfield. Until that point, the Cubs not only failed to record a hit but didn’t even come close, unless you count Pete Crow-Armstrong being thrown out by a half-step on his broken-bat grounder to Jeff McNeil in the sixth.
By then, the Cubs already were on the verge of waving the white flag as Crow-Armstrong, (a former Mets prospect traded for Javy Baez) attempted to bunt for a hit during that same trip to the plate. It rolled foul to cascading boos from the Citi Field crowd of 25,046.
Can’t blame the guy for trying. And the way Severino was dominating, pumping a four-seam fastball that averaged 96.2 mph with a nasty sinker at 95.6, the Cubs probably figured there was no other chance at denting him.
For manager Carlos Mendoza, who has watched Severino’s career mature from its infancy in the Yankees’ system, the brilliance was easily recognizable.
“Probably as good as I’ve seen, especially using his fastball, in-out, up-down, he was electric,” Mendoza said. “It was one of those outings that you’re saying like, OK, this is the Sevy that I know.”
Mendoza never really saw this version last season, the final year wearing pinstripes for both of them. Back then, en route to a 6.65 ERA, Severino said he felt like “the worst pitcher in the game.”
No-hitter or not, those days clearly are over. With his eight scoreless innings (five strikeouts), Severino has a 2.31 ERA, which ranks fourth among qualified starters in the National League. With Monday’s stuff, that should continue.
“He’s kind of finding his groove,” said Brandon Nimmo, whose leadoff homer in the first inning was Severino’s lone run of support. “I think it just shows he’s capable of what everybody thought he was. You can see that confidence on him. Just in the way he’s going about his business out there.”
Let’s go back to that Swanson single again for a minute. Severino opened the eighth with a walk to Michael Busch — his second of the game, to go with nailing Mike Tauchman in the foot — but then made Swanson look foolish on two crazy hacks at a pair of 97-mph sinkers that dived at his knees. When Severino went upstairs with another sinker, this time above the belt, it still was off the plate, but Swanson muscled it over Lindor.
Later, when I asked Severino where he wanted that pitch, he didn’t waffle.
“Right there,” he said, laughing. “I mean, he just got it. [Tomas] Nido and I were on the same page all night. He called that pitch in and I was making sure that pitch was in. It was a great pitch. Credit to [Swanson].”
No regrets on Severino’s part. That’s probably what made losing the no-hitter easier to stomach, because otherwise, he mowed through the Cubs with practically zero resistance.
Severino was at only 79 pitches through seven innings, and when Ian Happ punched a soft liner that McNeil caught to double up Tauchman at second base, the Cubs were down to their last six outs.
Everyone at Citi Field could see the finish line for Severino, who was on the verge of becoming the second Met to throw a no-hitter, after Johan Santana in 2012. It also was two years to the day after Tylor Megill combined with four relievers on a no-hitter (though that’s a much lesser prize, in our view).
“Everything was just lining up right,” Nimmo said. “Right around the end of the sixth inning is when I got excited for him.”
After Swanson’s hit, however, Severino’s brilliant night darkened quickly. Matt Mervis crashed into Severino’s right elbow when the pitcher covered first base, and though Severino stayed in the game, Joey Wendle soon blew up Severino’s chance at the W, too.
The “defensive replacement” for Mark Vientos at third base passed on an easy throw to the plate to nab Busch and made a misguided throw to second in an attempt to turn a double play that couldn’t be turned, allowing the tying run to score.
So after all that, Severino was denied the no-hitter as well as a victory. The consolation prize was the pair of standing ovations — one after Swanson’s single, the other coming off the mound — and the knowledge that he’s back as an elite front-line starter.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.