Mets' Luis Severino, Dodgers' Walker Buehler followed similar arcs to NLCS Game 3
In the newest biggest game of the season for both teams, the Mets will roll Wednesday with 2024 Luis Severino, a successful reclamation project who is among the reasons they have gotten this far, to Game 3 of the NL Championship Series.
The Dodgers will counter with 2023 Luis Severino — sort of.
It’ll be Severino versus righthander Walker Buehler, who all year has mixed injury with ineffectiveness, a combination with which Severino became deeply familiar in the not-too-distant past.
“At least my body feels like it's in the right position a lot of the time and kind of have an idea where the ball's headed,” Buehler said Tuesday evening of his current state.
Severino and Buehler, both 30, have never met but have followed similar career arcs. They were blossoming aces for premier franchises in their early-to-mid 20s, with a couple of All-Star nods and a pair of top-10 Cy Young Award finishes to each of their names. Then they had Tommy John surgery and, upon returning, suffered steep falloffs in performance.
Severino may well have re-figured it out with the Mets this season, posting a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts after signing a one-year, $13 million deal.
Buehler appears to be a year behind in their shared curve, putting together a regular season that looked an awful lot like Severino’s swan song with the Yankees: 5.38 ERA in 16 starts. He is due to be a free agent after this season.
The biggest change for Severino, he said, is learning to stick to a consistent routine and taking better care of his body than when he was younger.
“Doesn't matter if we're in the playoffs, just sticking to my routine every day, come here like this is the first game of the season,” Severino said. “So not worrying about how many innings I got.”
Severino has thrown 194 innings this year, regular season and playoffs combined. He totaled 230 over the previous five years.
“I won't say surprised [to be healthy], but I feel happy about myself,” he said. “The Mets have done a good job with me. The trainers, they're unbelievable. And I think I learned a lot this year how my body [works]. I'm not the same guy I was five years ago, I understand that I got a bit older. So I need to stick to a routine. And it doesn't matter if today's a day off. I have to come here, stick to my routine.”
Wednesday is a huge split game, and not only because the series is tied. Looming next for Los Angeles is Yoshinobu Yamamoto (its best pitcher) and likely Jack Flaherty (who shut the Mets down in Game 1). The Mets will counter with Jose Quintana and a pitcher to be determined.
The Dodgers went with a bullpen game in Game 2 on Monday because “I like Walker on the road” in Game 3, manager Dave Roberts said, which made it “a no-brainer.”
Roberts talked up Buehler’s postseason experience in away games. He has made five such outings, one of which qualified as a quality start. In his only game in these playoffs, he pitched five innings and gave up six runs — all in the second before settling in — against the Padres.
“I don't know if ‘thrive’ is the right word,” Buehler said of his road postseason history. “Obviously, I've given up some big homers over the years. But I certainly enjoy it, and I know our team likes playing in environments like that. It just makes the game a little bit different and a little bit more fun. So I'm looking forward to it.”
Buehler and Roberts insisted that his past half-dozen or so starts have been better, even if the results don’t reflect that in a significant way. Buehler called them “building blocks.”
“The results are the results, but the way he was throwing the baseball, the confidence that he had [are positives],” Roberts said. “The year after a surgery, there's an adjustment period, kind of trying to get the feel and really kind of get your feet back and understanding who you are as a pitcher coming out of surgery.
“Now, we're on the back end of that year, removed from surgery. I talked to Walker yesterday, and he's obviously never lacked for confidence, but he's in a good place physically. And certainly he lives for big moments.
“What better way to change the bad taste that you had in a regular season than for him to have a dominant postseason? And he's on a heater right now.”
Notes & quotes: J.D. Martinez has a “good chance” to crack the Game 3 lineup as DH, Carlos Mendoza said. He sat out the first two games . . . The Mets have one Gold Glove Award finalist, as announced by Rawlings on Tuesday: Severino. Mendoza said he was “shocked” that Lindor was not selected for the shortstop field in a vote of NL managers and coaches. “Let me see how I can put this one,” Lindor said. “I had a good defensive year, but I guess there's other players that had a better defensive year than me” . . . The Mets will wear their black uniforms Wednesday, according to Severino, who as the starter was allowed to choose . . . Darryl Strawberry will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Dwight Gooden on Wednesday. On Thursday, it’ll be Robin Ventura to Edgardo Alfonzo. And on Friday, Matt Harvey to Yoenis Cespedes.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
