Luis Severino built his pitch count up to 54 on Friday and continued to be encouraged by how he feels physically.
But the Yankees right-hander still has at least one thing to clean up, based on what hitters’ swings have told him so far this spring.
“That my slider sucks, that’s what they’re telling me right now,” Severino said with a chuckle after throwing four innings in a 4-3 win over the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. “I need to work more on my slider. It’s not the movement, it’s just location actually.”
Severino gave up two home runs to the Tigers and now has allowed five in 8 ²/3 innings this spring.
One of the homers Friday was on a slider to Eric Haase, who also took him deep on a slider on Feb. 27.
“For me, that’s the pitch that takes longer to get ready,” Severino said. “I just need to work on location more. But everything else was really good.”