Former Yankee Luis Severino already thinking about how he'll pitch to Aaron Judge

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Luis Severino is years removed from his status as a can’t-miss, flame-throwing prospect whose electric fastball and wipeout slider allowed him to debut as a 21-year-old for the Yankees in 2015.

Severino  also is glad to tell you that at the age of 31, he no longer resembles the pitcher of 2023, a miserable final season with the Yankees in which, after one memorably bad outing in Baltimore on July 30, the always-open and accountable righthander declared himself “the worst pitcher in the game.”

Severino, who will face the Yankees on Sunday afternoon as a member of the Athletics, righted himself last season after signing a one-year contract with the Mets, going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA. In the first season of a two-year, $45 million deal with the A's, with a player option for a third year, Severino is off to a solid start. He's 1-3 but has a 3.62 ERA.

“I’m really excited about facing the Yankees,” Severino said Friday afternoon before smiling. “I’m trying to figure out what to throw to [Aaron] Judge.”

Judge, who was drafted in 2013, and Severino were teammates from 2016, the season the outfielder made his big-league debut, through 2023.

“Usually this is the bad part of his season, the first month,” Severino said, smiling again. “And he’s hitting .400 with like 20 homers, I don’t know [12 homers coming into Friday]. I mean, it’s unbelievable what he can do. He’s such a good player. And even when he’s not going well, he’s always the same person. That’s why he’s one of my favorite teammates I played with. He’s the same guy when he goes 4-for-4 or 0-for-4. I’m just really happy for him. I feel like every year he just gets better. I don’t know how. It’s just unbelievable.”

It is fitting that Severino called Judge one of his favorite teammates because the two-time AL MVP has said the same of the pitcher, whom he frequently has referred to as “a bulldog” on the mound.

And for more seasons than not with the Yankees, Severino pitched like one. He went 54-37 with a 3.79 ERA in eight seasons, numbers made far worse by the disaster that was his 2023 walk year, when he went 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA. The Yankees made no effort to re-sign him after that season.

Severino, who battled a slew of injuries in the latter part of his career with the Yankees, has only good thoughts about the organization that signed him  at the age of 16 out of the Dominican Republic for $225,000 in December 2011.

“I loved it there,” Severino said. “Even growing up, I was a Yankee fan. I’m still a Yankee fan. I love those guys. They made me the pitcher I am and the man I am right now.”

Aaron Boone, who managed Severino from 2018-23, remains a fan.

“Love the person, love the competitor,” he said. “A lot of greatness with us, but obviously a lot of injuries that he had to work his way through. But what I’m happy for him and proud of him for is just his continued dedication to it. It’s not easy when you have a series . . . some significant injuries, too, that really cost him a lot of time and in the prime of his career, and I feel like he’s coming out of that and done a great job of learning how to navigate, learning how to work through that and is in the midst of a really good career.”

Notes & quotes: Severino isn’t the only former Yankee in the A’s clubhouse. There’s also infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar, infielder Gio Urshela, righthander Luis Medina and lefthanders Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears, who is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon’s game. Medina, Waldichuk and Sears were dealt away in the ill-fated 2022 trade deadline deal that netted the Yankees Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino . . . Boone said that before the start of this six-game West Coast trip, the plan was for DJ LeMahieu to join the Yankees at some point during this weekend series against the A’s, but LeMahieu’s rehab assignment games Thursday and Friday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre were rained out. As a result, Boone said, LeMahieu, who began a rehab assignment the previous week with Double-A Somerset,  likely will be activated during the series in Seattle, which begins Monday. LeMahieu started the season on the injured list with a left calf strain.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.