Mets Game 3 Starter Believes He Has Blueprint for Slowing Down Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani

The New York Mets have confidence entering Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday in New York and are handing the ball to Luis Severino.

Severino believes he has the blueprint for slowing down the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani.

“For me, I would go to see how Yu Darvish pitched to him, the recent righty, how they attacked him,” he said on Tuesday afternoon. “Like you say, he’s a great hitter. So I have to be careful. But if I can pick my spot, execute my pitches, I think I’ll be good.”

Ohtani has eight plate appearances against Severino in his career and all of them came while was with the Los Angeles Angels. He went 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, one run driven in, two walks, and one intentional walk with one strikeout across three games.

It won’t be easy for Severino to follow Darvish exactly due to the San Diego starter having several more pitches in his arsenal but he is going to try to replicate as much as he can.

“Yeah, I can see how he attacked him,” Severino added. “Of course, Darvish has, like, 10 different pitches. It will be tough, but I can learn something.”

Severino has been the anchor of a starting rotation that includes Game 2 winner, and ace, Sean Manaea. Jose Quintana has also added stability but it is Severino who has delivered them to Game 3 of the NLCS.

His playoff track record has been inconsistent, dating back to his first postseason start in 2017 as a member of the New York Yankees, when he lasted just a third of an inning against the Twins in the Wild Card game. The following year, he struggled again, getting hit hard by Boston in Game 3 of the ALDS.

This year is different and Severino is prepared to face a tough Dodgers lineup.

“They’re here for a reason,” he said. “They have a good lineup. They showed a lot in the first game, the second game, too. When you’ve got in the same lineup two or three MVPs, that says so much. They have a good lineup, just need to be prepared for that. “

However, Severino isn’t thinking about the past while heading into Wednesday’s game.

“For me, just going to go through some videos. Like I said before, see the matches, the past matches, see them take at-bats. And then I’m just going to forget everything, go to my house, probably play a little video games and that will be it, don’t worry about tomorrow.”

What is his game of choice?

Grinning from ear to ear, he answered with, “Call of Duty.”

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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