When the Oakland A’s signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million contract, it wasn’t just a deal. It was a statement. For the first time in years, the A’s spent money as a team believing they had found a true leader for the rotation.
A year later, that statement became… complicated.
Severino wasn’t a disaster. But he wasn’t the version the A’s had envisioned either. The numbers tell a frustratingly divided story: 3.02 ERA away from home, 6.01 ERA at Sutter Health Park. An ace who performed well everywhere—except at home. And when that repeats itself, it’s no longer a coincidence.
Severino never hid his struggles with the new environment. Not being allowed into the clubhouse when not pitching disrupted his familiar routine. Other pitchers complained the mound was too hard, making it difficult to generate power during push-offs. The reasons may vary, but the outcome remains the same: Sacramento is not friendly to the team’s highest-paid player.
So why does A’s believe 2026 will be different?
The first reason isn’t technical. It’s contractual.
This season, Severino will earn $25 million. After that, he has the option to opt out, rejecting a $22 million salary for the following year to enter the free market. But that option only makes sense if he pitches well enough to believe he can earn more—or at least, becomes attractive enough for A’s to find a trade partner willing to cover the rest.
In other words, Severino is entering a “platform season” that can’t be faked. Pitch well, he has freedom. Pitch poorly, he’s stuck.
The second reason stems from small but significant changes at Sutter Health Park. Last winter, A’s confirmed they would be building a “Severino Room”—a private space for the pitcher to rest while the team was in play. It wasn’t a full-fledged clubhouse, but it was an implicit acknowledgment that the problem existed, and the team was adjusting for him.
Adding a year of acclimatization to the course, mound, lighting, and rhythm, Severino had no reason to say the new environment was a surprise. Some teammates, like Jeffrey Springs, admitted it took them half the season to “get into the rhythm” of Sacramento—coincidentally, A’s also played noticeably better in the latter half.
And that leads to the third reason: the less-noticed numbers.
In mid-July, Severino adjusted his fastball strategy and began seeing results. Although he spent most of the latter part of the season pitching away from home, his last four home starts still yielded an ERA of 3.00 in 21 innings. Small sample size, yes. But it almost perfectly matched his away ERA for the entire season.
It wasn’t a game-changer. But it was a clue.
The forecasts for 2026 remain cautious: an ERA of around 4.5, a similar FIP to the previous year. However, last season’s 4.11 FIP suggests Severino isn’t as far from consistency as the scorecards suggest. That gap—between the feeling of disappointment and actual performance—is where the A’s are betting.
If Severino throws well both at home and away, he’s not just an ace. He becomes someone the A’s have enough faith in to break spending records.
And if not?
The 2026 season will not only decide Luis Severino’s future at Sacramento. It will decide whether the biggest contract in A’s history is a turning point—or a reminder that sometimes, it’s not about talent, but about where you have to throw the ball.
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