Mets’ Luis Severino jokes about pitching vs. Yankees, his former team: ‘I’m not afraid of you guys’

MIAMI — New York Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino wanted to face the New York Yankees, his former team and the only other club he’s ever played for.

But for the second time this season, the Mets denied the veteran right-hander that chance, instead opting to configure their rotation so that a pair of lefties take the mound against the Yankees next week.

The situation led to some good-natured — and humorous — jabbing between Severino and his ex-teammates in a group chat.

“They talk s— about me,” Severino said with a smile.

One example: His ex-teammates telling him that Severino was afraid of them.

That’s not the case, per Severino.

Severino said he responded in the fun group chat by saying, “Right now, you only have two good hitters. I can walk those two guys.”

The Mets swept the first Subway Series of the season, winning both games at Citi Field last month. Sean Manaea and David Peterson were the Mets’ starting pitchers.

Manea starts Friday night against the Miami Marlins. The Mets will then roll out: Severino, Christian Scott and David Peterson for the remaining three games against the Marlins. Jose Quintana, another lefty, was scheduled to appear in the series in Miami, but he’s sick.

If healthy in time, Quintana will start Tuesday against the Yankees followed by Peterson. (Mets’ top starter Kodai Senga is scheduled to throw a rehab start Saturday in Triple A, and if all goes well, he’d be on track to make his season debut against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field late next week).

Severino, who is experiencing a strong rebound season with the Mets, said he would’ve liked to have pitched against the Yankees in the Bronx, but understands the rationale. Against right-handers, the Yankees’ .773 OPS leads MLB. Against lefties, however, the Yankees’ OPS drops to .702, which is 18th in baseball.

“I think 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 would be better, but I understand the logic 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.”

On Friday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the team’s lineup has been “thin” since Giancarlo Stanton injured his hamstring last month. It’s so thin Boone feels obligated to have left fielder Alex Verdugo as his cleanup hitter despite him having the 15th-worst OPS for any qualified hitter since May 1.

“Somebody has got to grab that,” Boone said of the cleanup spot. “I feel like since May where those numbers are, there’s been a lot of good in there where he’s been a little unlucky where he’s getting his swing off and he’s just missing pitches. I think he’s going to hit like Alex Verdugo moving forward. That’s what I’m counting on.”

Verdugo has a career 103 wRC+, making him three percent better than the average MLB hitter. This season, however, his wRC+ has dropped to a career-low 90.

There aren’t many appealing options for the Yankees’ lineup outside of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Rookie first baseman Ben Rice is the team’s leadoff hitter and hasn’t looked overmatched since getting called up after Anthony Rizzo broke his arm.

Catcher Austin Wells has looked promising lately after a rough start. Outside of those two, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Volpe have all underperformed. There are too many holes in the Yankees’ lineup, and it’s been one of the key reasons why this team has struggled for the past month.

Severino’s critique, whether he was joking or not, isn’t wrong. With under two weeks until the trade deadline, the Yankees must add another bat.