WEST SACRAMENTO -- With Luis Severino dealing with some tightness in his right arm coming off his best outing of the season last week in Anaheim, the Athletics were hopeful that a few extra days of rest would be all he needed before pitching again.
“There was a lot of conversation and a lot of thought that went into this, including from Sevy, that he’d benefit from a couple more days,” manager Mark Kotsay said Tuesday. “He threw a side [Tuesday], which went well. There was still a little bit of tightness, but we don’t expect Sevy to miss his next turn.”
Pushed back from his scheduled turn in the rotation on Tuesday, Severino took the mound for the A’s in Friday’s series opener against the Yankees at Sutter Health Park and lasted one inning before leaving what ended up an 8-2 loss.
After surrendering four runs in the first, Severino took a long look toward the A’s dugout while warming up for the second inning. Not long after getting checked out by trainer Jeff Collins, Severino walked off the mound and eventually made his way back to the A’s clubhouse. Later in the game, the A’s announced Severino left the game due to right arm soreness.
“Obviously, when you ramp it up and you go into competition, you just don’t know how it’s going to respond,” Kotsay said. “After the first inning, when he went out to warm up, he just felt like it was still tight. He just couldn’t get loose. We made the decision to shut him down.”
Severino said he felt the tightness around his right triceps area. He got through his bullpen session earlier this week without any issues and felt healthy the next day. On Friday, though, the tightness worsened after every pitch.
“I felt like if I kept throwing, something even worse was going to happen,” Severino said. “That’s why I stopped.”
The severity of Severino’s injury is unclear at this point, and he was to undergo further testing on Saturday. Asked if there is any worry about missing his next start, Severino said he was just hoping that the diagnosis would be nothing long term.
“The biggest [concern] for me is not even my next start,” Severino said. “It’s finding something that is going to keep me out for a long time. If the worst-case scenario is missing one or two starts, I’m happy with that.”
The severity of Severino’s injury is unclear at this point. Should he have to miss time, it would mark the second A’s starting pitcher to go down this week. Aaron Civale, who was performing as their best starter to begin the year, was placed on the 15-day IL on Tuesday, prompting the club to call up its No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 41), Gage Jump, to take his place in the rotation.
Options at Triple-A Las Vegas to replace Severino’s rotation slot would include A’s No. 12 prospect Kade Morris, as well as pitchers already on the 40-man roster such as Mason Barnett and Joey Estes.
The A’s (27-30) have now lost four in a row for the first time since dropping the first four games of the season. Having lost 12 of their last 18, it’s difficult not to start to have flashbacks of their dreadful May last year, which saw them go 7-21 for the month to sink their playoff hopes following a winning April.
Right now, the focus is on the status of Severino, who despite not being off to a great start with a 4.16 ERA through 12 starts, is still their No. 1 starter and a critical piece of their plan to contend this season.
“You have a lot of ups and downs through the year,” Severino said. “I feel really good mentally. I feel like, when I’m healthy, I can compete out there. We’ll see tomorrow what exactly it is. Hopefully, it’s nothing that bad.”