MLB playoffs 2018: TBS’ Ron Darling doubles down on Yankees’ Luis Severino meltdown analysis from ALDS Game 3 vs. Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees meet Tuesday, October 9, 2018 (10/9/18) at Yankee Stadium for Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Boston took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series on Monday with a 16-1 pounding of the Yankees. Right-hander Luis Severino took the loss, giving up six runs in three-plus innings of work. The winner of the ALDS will face the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

TBS analyst and former Mets pitcher Ron Darling is standing by his analysis of Yankees right-hander Luis Severino.

During the broadcast of Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Monday, Darling wondered if Severino didn’t realize the game’s first pitch was scheduled for 7:40 p.m. when he saw that the right-hander didn’t enter the bullpen until 7:32 p.m.

Darling talked Tuesday with SNY about what he saw:

“It seemed unusual to me,” Darling told SNY by phone on Tuesday. “That’s why I brought it up. A lot of people can disagree, but, really, I don’t know how they could.”

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On Tuesday Darling said TBS’ production truck had video chronicling Severino’s entire pre-game routine, which allowed him to speak with certainty about the times. 

“They had everything time-stamped,” Darling said. “Severino didn’t step on the field until 7:23. He didn’t throw a pitch until 7:32. 

“I also could see (pitching coach) Larry Rothschild mouth the words to him, telling him it was a 7:40 start. In all my years as pitcher, I never had a pitching coach have to tell me what time the game was.

“I’m not drawing any conclusions or saying the warm-up had anything to do with the way Severino pitched. It’s not me trying to crack the code or doing some journalistic exercise. 

“It just seemed unusual for a pitcher getting ready for a game like that, and when I find an oddity, it’s my job to tell people about it.”

Severino struggled against the Red Sox, giving up six runs in three-plus innings of work, as Boston won Game 3, 16-1, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, which resumes Tuesday at Yankee Stadium with Game 4.

After the game, Severino blasted Darling, saying that was part of his normal routine — showing up at that time to the bullpen — and that he doesn’t even know who Darling is.

“If my pitching coach said that to you, you could believe it,” Severino said. “But whatever he says, he’s not always in the bullpen. How would he know that? How would he know what time I go out? I came out 20 minutes before the game, like I always do. I don’t know what he was saying.”

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild had Severino’s back.

“And he didn’t rush to get in or any of that stuff,” Rothschild said. “He was able to sit down for three or four minutes and go out. The problem occurred in the third inning, not the first inning. So if there was a difference in his warmups, he had already thrown 44 pitches before all that stuff happened.”

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But Darling was skeptical Tuesday of the Yankees defending Severino, per SNY:

“The Yankees are circling the wagons,” he said. “They have a young, incredible talent in Severino. I’m not judging anyone. There was nothing sinister about me saying what I said. My job is to give fans a peek behind the curtain, and that’s what I was doing.

“My other option is to not say anything, as a way of protecting the athlete, but that’s not how I work. I’m trying to look for things that are different because I think fans find them interesting. That’s all I was doing.” 

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.