WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Luis Severino spent years as Aaron Judge\u2019s teammate on the New York Yankees, marveling at his prodigious power and skill as a hitter.<\/p>\n
Now Severino gets to face Judge for the first time this weekend when he is slated to start for the Athletics on Sunday in the series finale against the Yankees. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d he said Friday before the series opener. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to figure out what to throw to Judge.\u201d<\/p>\n
No pitcher has been able to figure that out this season, as Judge is off to a sizzling start after getting off to slow starts to the season in recent years. <\/p>\n
Judge enters the weekend leading the majors in almost every major offensive categories. He is batting .400 with 12 homers, 34 RBIs, 34 runs scored, a .491 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually this is the bad part of the season, the first month,\u201d Severino said. \u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable what he can do. He\u2019s such a good player. Even when he\u2019s not doing good, he\u2019s always the same person. That\u2019s why he\u2019s one of my favorite teammates. … I feel like every year he just gets better. I don\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n
Severino was with the Yankees from 2015-23, going 54-37 with a 3.79 ERA. He is slated to face the Yankees for the first time in his career after missing them last year when he was on the New York Mets. <\/p>\n
Severino made headlines last year when he said the Yankees \u201conly have two good hitters,\u201d referring to Judge and former Yankees outfielder Juan Soto. Severino wouldn\u2019t say how many good hitters the Yankees have this year outside of Judge, saying he hasn\u2019t watched much because of the three-hour time difference. <\/p>\n
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said there\u2019s no ill will and that\u2019s \u201cjust Sevy.\u201d Boone said he has only good memories of his time with Severino and is happy that his former player has been healthy since leaving the Yankees after making only 40 starts in his last five years with the team because of a series of injuries. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love the person. I love the competitor,\u201d Boone said. \u201cA lot of greatness with us, but obviously a lot of injuries that he had to work his way through. But what I\u2019m happy for him and proud of him for is his continued dedication. It\u2019s not easy when you have a series of some significant injuries too that really cost him a lot of time and in the prime of his career. I feel like he\u2019s come out of that and done a great job of just learning how to navigate that, learning how to work through that.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n