For multiple reasons, this has not been the easiest week for Luis Severino.
The Yankees right-hander turned in another clunker of a start on Sunday night in Baltimore, after which he said he felt like “the worst pitcher in the game.”
On top of that, he spent the next two days worrying about whether he might be traded before the deadline, knowing that he could be dealt as a rental.
“It’s not been great,” Severino, still a Yankee, told The Post on Wednesday before the Yankees’ 7-2 win over the Rays at the Stadium. “But I’m here to live another day, to try to get better. It’s been a stressful couple days.”
Once the deadline had passed on Tuesday, and general manager Brian Cashman had decided not to sell off any expiring contracts, Severino said he felt a sense of relief.
Severino still could be in his final few months as a Yankee, but he was happy to get another chance to pitch in pinstripes, which will happen on Friday against the Astros in The Bronx.
After his brutal start Sunday, the Yankees had been noncommittal about whether Severino would remain in the rotation, especially with Nestor Cortes on the precipice of returning from the injured list.
But manager Aaron Boone confirmed on Wednesday that Severino will indeed make his next start on Friday.
“I’m working my ass [off] here trying to get better, trying to be a better player and help my team,” Severino said Wednesday after he threw a bullpen session under the watchful eye of pitching coach Matt Blake and adviser Andy Pettitte. “I can’t stop right now. I know the potential I got in me and I have to keep going until I reach that potential.”
That potential — along with Domingo German going on the restricted list Wednesday to get treatment for alcohol abuse — may be a big reason why the Yankees are sticking with Severino, even if he has not lived up to it consistently enough this season.
After he missed the first seven-plus weeks with a strained lat that he suffered late in spring training, Severino looked sharp in his first two starts.
But in 10 games since, he has posted an 8.94 ERA, including giving up seven runs or more in three of his last five starts.
Severino’s struggles hit a low point on Sunday, when he gave up six runs before recording an out against the Orioles and ended up allowing a career-high nine earned runs across 3 ¹/₃ innings.
He was hard on himself after the start and sounded at a loss while trying to explain why he has not been able to turn things around.
“Right now, I feel like I am the worst pitcher in the game, no doubt about it,” he said that night.
“I know I haven’t been myself this year,” Severino said Wednesday. “I get mad at myself all the time. And as a fan — I am a fan too. I’m really hard criticizing myself, so I don’t leave nothing in me when I have to talk. I told it straight.
“After the game, my wife yelled at me because I said that. She said, ‘Don’t ever say that.’ Then the next day, my mom said the same thing. She said, ‘I don’t want to hear my son say that again.’ And a lot of teammates, friends and actually a lot of fans have reached out to me about that. ‘You’re good, don’t say that about yourself.’ So that’s given me a lot of confidence.”
Now he will try to turn that into better results on Friday, starting with improved fastball command.
It remains to be seen how long of a leash Severino will get to work through his struggles while still in the rotation, but he said the Yankees have not discussed with him potentially going to the minors to work on things in a lower-stress environment, a la Alex Manoah and the Blue Jays.
“The stuff is there, I’m just missing my spots,” he said.
Severino may also be costing himself money as a free agent this offseason, but he said he has stopped worrying about that.
“At the beginning, I was too stressed about that, thinking too much about that,” he said. “Right now, I’m not even thinking about that. Whatever happens, happens. I just need to think of the now, not about what’s going to happen next year. I’m 29, so even if this year, whatever happens, I’m gonna sign with somebody. 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.”
