MLB playoffs 2018: Yankees’ Luis Severino fires back at critics saying he screwed up start time

Yankees pitcher Luis Severino responds after accusations that he screwed up the first pitch time of Monday’s Game 3 ALDS vs. the Red Sox.

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NEW YORK — Luis Severino didn’t just swat Ron Darling’s accusation. He said he’s never even heard of him.

“Who is that guy?” Severino said.

Darling, a TBS analyst, wondered aloud if Severino, the Yankees‘ starting pitcher, screwed up the first-pitch time of Monday’s 16-1 drubbing from the Red Sox in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Monday night.

Darling also said he thought Severino might have been late to his pregame bullpen session, and that it might have been why he was rocked for six runs over three-plus innings, giving the Yankees no choice but to win their next two games or get bounced from the postseason.

Takeaways from ugly Yankees loss

Severino fired back.

“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.”

Darling, who’s also an SNY analyst for Mets games, was an All-Star pitcher in 1984 for the Mets.

He played 13 big-league seasons, finishing fifth in the 1986 Cy Young race, the year in which the Mets won the World Series. He ended with a 3.87 career ERA and a 136-116 record.

“I don’t know who that is,” Severino said.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild had Severino’s back.

Rothschild walked into the clubhouse after the loss. Surrounded by reporters, he said Severino faced a pair of hitters in the Yankees’ batting cage before he went on the field to long toss.

Rothschild added that Severino typically takes less time than most pitchers to warm up. Rothschild said CC Sabathia needs little time to warm up, too. Severino “warmed up pretty well,” the pitching coach said.

“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.”

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.