Not every path to Major League Baseball success is linear.
Every so often, a player whose career looked like it was going nowhere finds a way to make an impact with a new team. Often, those players are pitchers, since the difference between getting crushed and dominating hitters often comes down to minor tweaks.
The New York Mets are feeling opportunistic about that principle applying to their newest minor-league signing, who hasn’t thrown a pitch in the big leagues since 2022.
On Wednesday, the Mets signed left-handed pitcher Anderson Severino to a minor-league contract, according to the transactions log on his official MLB.com roster page. Severino, 31, has spent the last three years pitching in Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic after leaving the Chicago White Sox organization at the end of the 2022 season.
Originally signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 2013, Severino pitched 164 times in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the White Sox in 2022. He made just six big-league appearances, allowing five earned runs but striking out nine batters in 7 1/3 innings.
Severino has pitched in the Dominican Winter League every season since leaving the White Sox, and he’s also pitched in the Venezuelan Winter League and Mexican League. His work with Guerreros de Oaxaca this season likely earned him another shot in affiliated ball, as he had a 2.68 ERA with 46 strikeouts in 37 innings.
The Mets needed to replace some left-handed pitching depth after non-tendering Danny Young and José Castillo last week. We’ll see if Severino ever gets his shot to make an impact in Queens.
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