NEW YORK — Athletics starting pitcher Luis Severino said he’s still not enjoying pitching at his new home in Sacramento — and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon.

Severino listed smaller crowds, a lack of air conditioning and a different kind of energy, among other factors, as drawbacks to pitching at Sutter Health Ballpark — the minor-league stadium the A’s retrofitted into their home park this season after leaving Oakland Coliseum.

“It feels like a spring training kind of game every time I pitch, and every time other guys pitch,” Severino said before his team faced the New York Yankees on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s the same mentality we have, to go out there and try to do our best. But it’s not been great for us.”

Severino has been terrible at Sutter Health Ballpark and very good on the road. He’s gone 0-7 with a 6.79 ERA in 10 starts at home. On the road, he’s 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA in seven starts.

Why has he been so much better on the road?

“Because we play in a big-league stadium on the road,” he said.

“We don’t have that at home right now. It’s not the same. It’s not the same atmosphere. We don’t have a lot of fans. Our clubhouse is in left field. So, when we play day games, we have to just be in the sun. There’s no air conditioning there, too. It’s really tough.”

Luis Severino walks to the dugout after allowing eight earned runs over 5 2/3 innings to the Twins on June 2. (Neville E. Guard / Imagn Images)

Severino added that “you don’t feel the same energy” at the ballpark, which has a total capacity of 14,014. For comparison, Yankee Stadium — Severino’s home for the first nine years of his career — has a capacity of 52,325. Severino will pitch Sunday at Yankee Stadium — his first time pitching in the Bronx since 2023, his final season with the Yankees.

Severino added that the Sacramento ballpark’s layout has been a challenge. When pitching, he said he prefers to watch the game on TV in the clubhouse between innings. But he can’t do that in Sacramento because the A’s clubhouse is in left field — too far of a walk.

“I feel like when I watch the game on TV, it feels like the game is easy, so I can just go out there and try to do that,” he said. “At home, it’s been tough, because the only way you can do that is go out of the stadium and go to left field and then come back in. After that, it’s going to be really tough. So there’s not much that we can do.”

Severino isn’t the only A’s pitcher having trouble in Sacramento. The A’s have the second-worst home ERA in baseball at 5.67, behind only the Colorado Rockies at 6.22.

The A’s might be calling Sacramento home for a while. The club had a stadium groundbreaking ceremony Monday in Las Vegas. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told the Las Vegas Review Journal that “we’re glad that we’ll have a team here in ’28.”

Here’s a video of a portion of the groundbreaking ceremony for the new stadium for the @Athletics on the Las Vegas Strip! 🏟️ ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/C0IYbcmqGg

— City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) June 23, 2025

The Tampa Bay Rays are also playing at a minor-league stadium. They’ve called George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa their home this season after Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., in October.

The A’s gave Severino, 31, a three-year, $67 million contract in December — the richest guaranteed deal in franchise history.

Severino voiced similar concerns after giving up eight earned runs over four-plus innings to the Yankees in a 12-2 loss at home May 11.

“It’s tough to pitch here,” Severino said at the time, according to a report from the Sacramento Bee. “You’re just not used to (it) — you have a routine. You have a routine your whole life, then you come here and just (have to) work around whatever you have here.”

Other players have complained about the ballpark, too. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler said the A’s mound was “terrible” and that it felt like “cement.” The Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa said the batter’s box was “the worst I’ve ever stepped in.” Twins pitcher Joe Ryan wondered if the mound played a role in an injury to teammate Pablo López.

(Top photo: Scott Marshall / Getty Images)