Pedro Severino

Pedro Severino De León (born July 20, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball catcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Washington Nationals.

Pedro Severino
Severino with the Washington Nationals in 2018
Baltimore Orioles – No. 28
Catcher
Born: (1993-07-20) July 20, 1993
Bonao, Monseñor Nouel Province
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 20, 2015, for the Washington Nationals
Career statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.228
Home runs22
Runs batted in87
Teams

Professional career

Washington Nationals

Severino began playing baseball in the Dominican Republic as a pitcher, outfielder, and third baseman. In 2009, at the age of 15, his team needed a catcher, so a coach asked Severino to fill in. The coach noticed Severino's potential at catcher when he threw out a baserunner attempting to steal second base, and asked him to keep catching. He considered quitting, but his father encouraged him to try catching.[1]

In 2010, the Nationals signed Severino for a $55,000 signing bonus as a catcher. He debuted in 2011 for the Gulf Coast Nationals of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL), where he struggled to gain the trust of his pitchers due to his youth and inability to understand English. He began to learn English, and worked on his catching development.[1] After repeating the GCL in 2012,[2] Severino played for the Hagerstown Suns of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) in 2013, where he was the team's youngest player.[3] He batted .241, but threw out 40% of basestealers, and was named a SAL all-star.[1][4] In 2014, Severino played for the Potomac Nationals of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, where the average player was three years older than him.[1] After the season, the Nationals assigned Severino to the Arizona Fall League.[5]

In 2015, Severino played for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League. The Nationals promoted him to the major leagues on September 1, 2015.[6] He made his major league debut on September 20, hitting a double against the outfield wall off Miami Marlins reliever Jose Urena in his first plate appearance and coming around to score.[7]

Severino began the 2016 season as the primary catcher for the Syracuse Chiefs in the Class AAA International League. He was called up to the majors in April 2016 for a brief stint after Wilson Ramos was placed on the bereavement list and again in July after Jose Lobaton was sent to the disabled list with an injury. He hit his first major league home run while pinch-hitting at Coors Field on August 17 against Colorado Rockies reliever Matt Carasiti.[8] He was designated for assignment on March 21, 2019.

Baltimore Orioles

Severino was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles on March 23, 2019.[9] He became the team's starting catcher when Jesús Sucre was designated for assignment on April 28, 2019.[10] He set a career high with three home runs in a game in a 1211 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on June 4, 2019.[11]

In 2020 for the Orioles, Severino slashed .250/.322/.388 with 5 home runs and 21 RBI.[12] He had the slowest home run trot of all major league players, at 28 seconds.[13]

References

  1. "How Pedro Severino became a Nationals' top catching prospect". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  2. "Byron Kerr: Hagerstown catcher Severino surging to prospect status with Nationals". MASNsports. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  3. "Hagerstown deals with pair of pitching injuries". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  4. "Severino impressing Nationals with his work ethic". MLB.com. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  5. "Seven Nationals minor leaguers to play in Arizona Fall League". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  6. PennLive, Mick Reinhard | Special to (September 1, 2015). "Report: Harrisburg Senators' catcher Pedro Severino promoted to Washington Nationals as MLB rosters expand". pennlive.
  7. "Pedro Severino gets his first major league hit". The Washington Post. September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  8. Borek, Jesse (August 17, 2016). "Nationals Pedro Severino hits first MLB home run". Today's Knuckleball. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  9. "Baltimore Orioles claim Pedro Severino off waivers," The Associated Press (AP), Saturday, March 23, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019
  10. Kubatko, Roch. "Orioles DFA Sucre, put Cobb on IL and option Yacabonis," Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Sunday, April 28, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019
  11. Meoli, John (June 4, 2019). "Orioles hang on for 1211 win over Rangers thanks to big nights from Pedro Severino, Dwight Smith Jr". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  12. "Pedro Severino Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
  13. "Statcast Home Run Tracking". baseballsavant.com.
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