AL DIVISION SERIES: GUARDIANS VS YANKEES

October 14, 2022

Luis Severino

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. How anxious are you to get back on the mound after your last start, seven shutout innings?

LUIS SEVERINO: Really anxious. It's been like 25 days. So I used to pitch every five or six. That will be fun to go back on the mound to compete again.

Q. You came in out of the bullpen in the Wild Card game last year but this is your first start since the 2019 ALCS. How excited are you to take the mound as a starter in a playoff game?

LUIS SEVERINO: Really excited. Like I said -- I think you asked me that before, right, I think?

Q. Probably.

LUIS SEVERINO: I'm not going to forget like how it feels to start in the postseason. So I will try to do my best to execute my pitches and try to get quick innings, quick counts, and try to get hitters out.

Q. You'll have a hostile atmosphere in Cleveland. Do you embrace pitching with a crowd that's against you like that?

LUIS SEVERINO: Of course it's going to be that way. You are not going to play all games in Yankee Stadium. Pitching in Houston a couple years ago, it's the same. They are going to cheer for their team, but I try not to think about that. I try to focus on my game and my catcher and do my job.

Q. You'll be facing a team that doesn't strike out a lot and their specialty is making contact. Will you adjust in any way to that?

LUIS SEVERINO: I cannot run away from my game. I will try to do the same thing. If I do something that I'm not used to doing, I think that's not me. I think that something wrong is going to happen if I don't go with the thing that I do good. You know, even if don't they strike out, the pitches I throw to strike out somebody else, they make contact, hopefully, can get an out.

Q. Can you talk about this could be your last start in a Yankees jersey? You were very vocal that you didn't agree with the Yankees putting you on the 60-day IL. With how strong you feel now, do you feel there was any merit to that?

LUIS SEVERINO: I don't know if I would have felt as strong as I am right now. You know, at the beginning, I was not thrilled with the decision, but of course they have a bunch of doctors, they have a bunch of people that know what is the best for their players. I respect the decision. And hopefully it's worked for the best, and it works for the best for them and it works for the best for me.

Q. As someone who has postseason experience, what kind of advice do you give someone like Nestor who is taking taken on this responsibility for the first time?

LUIS SEVERINO: I think for Nestor, this is what is good about Yankee Stadium. Every big series is big in the playoffs. When we face the Red Sox or Tampa or Toronto, the atmosphere, the fans, it feels like this is a playoff atmosphere out there. I think it's going to be good. He's been doing it for the whole year. He's been dominating the whole year. I think if he does what he's been doing for the last, you know, 29, 28 starts, he's going to be unbelievable.

Q. During that long rehab how much was this start on your mind pushing you, making it worth it to get back?

LUIS SEVERINO: I mean, I was not thinking that far. I was not thinking playoff because I was thinking about how I'm going to feel in my first one. After I made my first one, I was feeling very good. And then I start thinking about, okay, I've got three starts before pitching in the playoffs. So I think at the beginning, I didn't think about pitching in the playoffs. It was more about the other three starts before that.