Mets' Luis Severino bummed to miss Subway Series vs. Yankees again
Mets pitcher Luis Severino reacts after getting out of the third inning of a game against the Nationals at Citi Field on July 10. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
MIAMI — With the flexibility afforded by the All-Star break, the Mets could have set up their rotation any way they wanted — and they did.
But it was not to Luis Severino’s preference. He asked to pitch against the Yankees, his former team, next week. Manager Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner opted against that, instead choosing to use him this weekend against the Marlins.
“The first thing I did after my last game was ask for the first game back here,” Severino said, noting that that would have allowed him to throw again in the Subway Series finale. “They told me no. I asked why. They said just because of the innings. They feel like I threw a lot of innings in the first half, so they don’t want to push me too hard.”
Severino indeed has had a busy season, totaling a team-high 109 2⁄3 innings as the Mets returned from the break Friday. That already is way more than last year (89 1⁄3) and more than he has compiled in any season since 2018. So the Mets opted to maximize his layoff, giving him nine days off between outings.
Severino was lined up to face the Yankees last month, but the Mets rejiggered their rotation in the days before that, and he pitched the last game before that matchup.
Apparently, good-natured ribbing in a group chat with some former teammates ensued.
“They talk [expletive] about me when I ditched the Yankees. ‘Oh, you’re afraid of us,’ ” Severino said. “I said I’m not afraid. You guys right now have only two good hitters. I can walk those two guys and be [fine]. But it’s always a friendly competition against the players that I played with. It’s going to be fun. Hopefully in the future I can face them.”
Another piece of the Mets’ rotation alignment: They plan to use two lefthanders — Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea — against the Yankees. Entering the weekend, the Yankees had a .773 OPS against righties and .702 OPS against lefties.
“For some reason, the Yankees are not that good against lefties this year,” Severino said. “I mean, you only have to walk [Aaron] Judge, and after that it’ll be better. So I understand the logic of lefties because of the hitters. [Juan] Soto is a lefty. [Alex] Verdugo is a lefty. And Judge is the only big threat against lefties up there. So I understand the logic. But anyway, it would be fun to go to the Yankees and face them.”
Maybe another time.
“Hopefully,’’ Severino said, “we face them in the World Series.”
Senga update
When Kodai Senga pitches Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse, it probably will be his final rehab start — for real this time.
The Mets have him down to throw 80 to 85 pitches. If that goes well, they plan to bring him back late next week when they face Atlanta in a four-game set at Citi Field.
They considered bringing him straight to the majors this weekend after three minor-league outings but figured one more would better position Senga — and his pitch count — for success. He has missed the entire season because of shoulder and triceps injuries.
“Hopefully he’s ready to go with us for the next time out,” Mendoza said. “But again, one step at a time.”
As the rotation turns
The Mets scratched Quintana from his start Saturday — pushing him back to Tuesday — because he was “pretty sick,” Mendoza said.
So they moved everyone else up a day: Severino on Saturday, Christian Scott on Sunday, David Peterson on Monday.
Marte inches forward
Starling Marte has started “low-impact” baseball activities, Mendoza said, for the first time since the Mets shut him down with a right knee bone bruise almost a month ago.
That includes playing catch and hitting off a tee. He will continue that progression at a pace heavily influenced by his pain tolerance, Mendoza said.
Extra bases
Sean Reid-Foley (right shoulder impingement) is scheduled to face batters Monday, which will be his first time doing so since landing on the injured list . . . Mendoza said his preferred arrangement against righthanded starting pitchers features Jose Iglesias at second base and Jeff McNeil in rightfield. Iglesias started out playing against lefties but has been productive enough long enough to win more playing time.
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.
