Luis Severino Earns First Win in Green and Gold
While the win won't count towards his end-of-year statistics, Luis Severino's dominance over the Kansas City Royals marked a milestone of sorts, with the owner of the largest contract in franchise history earning his first win as a member of the green and gold.
The win was earned in a 10-1 drubbing by the A's, in which they hung eight earned runs on Cy Young contender Cole Ragans, collecting 11 hits and a walk across 4.2 innings of work. The other two runs the A's would score came against old friend Ross Stripling, who worked the final two innings.
JJ Bleday would be the first batter he'd face in the bottom of the seventh, and Bleday took him deep for his third homer of the spring. The 27-year-old is having a similar camp to the one he produced last season, batting .317 with a .429 on-base and a .990 OPS.
As for Severino, he ended up going 5.1 innings in this one, giving up six hits and one walk which led to his one run allowed. The righty also struck out four.
With this being Severino's final outing of the spring, it was certainly the right note to go out on, facing a Royals squad that reached the postseason last year. That said, he didn't have to face Bobby Witt Jr., so it wasn't quite Kansas City at their best, either.
The bats were the big story of this game, with Brent Rooker hitting his second home run in as many days, giving him his first two of the spring.
The A's have just three spring contests remaining on their schedule before they receive a couple of off-days and then kick off the season against the Seattle Mariners. For Rooker and Severino to be hitting their stride now is a good sign.
Shea Langeliers also bopped his second homer of camp, and the backstop is batting .316 this spring and has still struck out only one time. There is a chance we see a new level to his game in 2025.
One player to keep an eye on the rest of the way will be Max Muncy, who, with Zack Gelof still out, got yet another start at second base. He ended up going 1-for-1 with a two RBI single in the second, and then walked in the third. He was done after five innings, but he has had one heck of a spring, batting .314 with a .419 OBP and a .848 OPS.
Again, he did his damage against one of the better pitchers in the game.
If Gelof's injury lingers, Muncy could be one of the players that the A's consider using as a replacement. That said, the club will likely bring him up when they feel he's ready, with the hope being to avoid a return trip to Triple-A. The question is whether or not that time is now, or is still looming. The fact that he's still in camp is a good sign that he's close.
That said, he's still not on the 40-man roster.
If Muncy were to get some time at second base this season, he'd form a double play combo with his old high school teammate, Jacob Wilson, up the middle for the A's.
Wilson also went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored in this one.
Finally, one more pitcher that deserves some recognition is Justin Sterner, a 28-year-old righty that the A's claimed from the Tampa Bay Rays in early November. In nine appearances this spring, he has tossed 11 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and two walks, striking out 15.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.