Luis Severino Struggles in First Coors Field Start

Pitching at Coors Field is never easy for any starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. On Tuesday night, Luis Severino had his first experience taking the mound in the thin air of Denver, Colorado, against the Rockies. Going to Colorado can sometimes lead to weird things happening for opposing teams. Part of that did happen to the Mets’ in a 6-3 loss to open their three-game series.

After being spotted with an early 2-0 lead, Severino allowed a run in the second on a Kris Bryant single and a fielding error by Mark Vientos, which allowed the ball to go into the dugout and led to a run.

Two innings later, the Rockies worked a two-out rally with an RBI double by Elías Diaz and a two-run home run by Jake Cave to put Colorado ahead, 4-2. While Cave’s home run looked like your prototypical Colorado home run. Severino hitting the leadoff hitter, Brendan Rodgers, with an 0-2 slider, ended up costing him getting out of the inning.

On the night, Severino’s box score looks worse than the line would indicate. The right-hander went five innings, allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits, and struck out five on 89 pitches (65 strikes). While Severino has allowed four earned runs or more in four of his last seven starts, one aspect of his game had to be a sigh of relief for the Mets and their fans.

Tuesday saw the return of Severino’s fastball velocity. In his prior start on July 31 against the Minnesota Twins, the average velocity on his fastball was about 94.7 miles-per-hour and only ended up going as high as 96.4 (Baseball Savant). That number changed drastically on Tuesday with the average velocity going to 97.1 and he was able to get the heater up to 99 mph on the radar gun. 

In terms of getting swings and misses, Severino picked up six whiffs on his fastball (only had one against the Twins). Yes, the sweeper ended up being the key pitch for him in that outing, but when Severino’s fastball is in sync, he ends up having his more dominant outings. That is a pitch the Mets will need to Severino to find consistently if they want to make a push for the postseason.

Even though Severino did have a “Coors Field” kind of outing, he kept the ball in the ballpark to a degree. The only home run he allowed came against Cave in the fourth. Ever since his bad outing in Pittsburgh on July 5, Severino has allowed fewer than two home runs in four of his last five starts.

After the game, you could tell that Severino appreciated Rockies pitchers such as Kyle Freeland (Tuesday night’s winning pitcher), who have to throw on the mound more than once a year.

“It is really tough to pitch here. I have to tip my hat to Germán Marquez and Kyle Freeland, who have had some great years here. It’s unbelievable.”

If there is one concern to have about Severino in a potential postseason series, it is his struggles in other opposing ballparks. This year, he has pitched to a 4.65 ERA in 10 starts on the road. Meanwhile, at Citi Field, he has a 3.54 ERA in 12 starts.

Hopefully, Severino can take away some of the good things from the game rather than the loss itself and bounce back in his next start.

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