September 19, 2024

Mets signing Joel Sherman starter Luis Severino to one-year deal

Luis Severino isn’t going far in free agency.

Mets signing ex-Yankees starter Luis Severino to one-year deal

The former Yankees right-hander and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $13 million deal on Wednesday night, The Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman confirmed.

Severino, 29, had plenty of highs in The Bronx but was too often dragged down by injuries.

The two-time All-Star pitched to a 3.79 ERA across parts of eight seasons in pinstripes, with the worst year of his career coming this past year.

Severino started the season on the injured list with a right lat strain and then after debuting in mid-May, recorded a 6.65 ERA in 18 starts and 89 ¹/₃ innings.

He was just starting to look more like himself before suffering a season-ending oblique strain in what turned out to be his final game as a Yankee on Sept. 8.

Throughout the rough year, the Yankees (and Severino) remained steadfast that his stuff and talent were still there.

Now it will be up to the Mets to get it out of him, banking on Severino’s electric potential to rise above his injury risk to fill one of the holes in their rotation.

Reuniting with manager Carlos Mendoza, the former Yankees bench coach, Severino joins a rotation that includes proven starters Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana along with depth options Tylor Megill, Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi.

David Peterson is expected to be out until May or June after undergoing hip surgery in November.

For Severino, the deal presents an opportunity to regain his value before hitting the market again next offseason.

At his peak — the 2017 and 2018 seasons — Severino was one of the top pitchers in the game.

Across those two years, he pitched to a 3.18 ERA with 450 strikeouts across 63 starts and 384 ²/₃ innings. He placed third in AL Cy Young voting in 2017 and ninth in 2018.

That success led the Yankees, ahead of the 2019 season, to sign Severino to a four-year, $40 million contract extension with a $15 million club option for 2023.

It quickly went awry from there, though. That spring, Severino was sidelined by rotator cuff inflammation and then a Grade 2 lat strain. He did not pitch until September, making three starts before the season ended.

In the spring of 2020, Severino underwent Tommy John surgery and was knocked out until September of 2021 — with his return delayed by a groin strain during his first rehab assignment.

After posting a 3.18 ERA across 102 innings in 2022 — though he missed time with another lat strain and was angered by the Yankees ultimately transferring him to the 60-day IL — Severino seemed poised for a strong walk year in 2023.

But he never got on track.

He suffered the lat strain late in spring training and missed the first seven weeks of the season.

Soon after he came back, his struggles began, and they endured long enough to the point that Severino called himself “the worst pitcher in the game” after a July 30 start in Baltimore.

The Yankees tried multiple avenues to fix Severino, including using an opener in front of him for one game, though it did not work.

Severino later admitted that he was thinking too much about his pending free agency early in the season

“I’m 29, so even if this year, whatever happens, I’m gonna sign with somebody,” Severino said in August, a day after the trade deadline passed without the Yankees dealing him. “I can sign a one-year deal with anybody and try to get better that year. I’m still young and the best thing is that I’m healthy.”

 

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