Luis Severino believes it started last week in Toronto, but he isn’t sure who the catalyst was.
Someone in their rotation — Sean Manaea is a good guess — decided the Mets rotation needed its own special celebration.
“We celebrate the hitters a lot,” Severino said after the 10-6, series-opening win over the Phillies at Citi Field on Thursday. “We [needed] to do something for the pitchers, too.”
And so a hopping circle was formed.
After the starter is pulled — almost always after a solid start these days — he joins the rest of the group, with arms on one another’s shoulders, and they bounce up and down for a few seconds.
“We need to get another sign,” Severino said to laughs, the “OMG” sign reserved for homers.
The Mets pitchers are having fun, and it is much easier to have fun when they are pitching like this.
Severino turned in his fourth quality start in four September starts, a six-inning, three-run outing that actually represents a downturn, considering how well he and the Mets rotation have been humming.
After Severino’s night, Mets starting pitchers own a 2.01 ERA in 17 September games, at best carrying the team and at worst keeping the team in the game.
The season’s biggest month has seen the biggest step forward from a Mets rotation that was merely OK before each rotation member found a groove.
No one has touched Manaea since mid-July.
Jose Quintana owns a 0.28 ERA in his past five starts.
David Peterson’s season ERA sits at 2.85.
Tylor Megill has gone 12 innings without giving up an earned run in his past two starts.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Severino, who has allowed three or fewer runs in seven of his past eight starts, “we’ve been really strong the past month.”
In a game in which 16 runs were scored, Severino merely needed to be solid.
He got dinged in the third inning when a Kyle Schwarber single and Trea Turner bomb to the second deck in left field tied the game.
The strong righty ran into trouble again in the third when Brandon Marsh cracked an RBI single over Mark Vientos’ head.
But with two on, Severino got Cal Stevenson to fly out.
The Mets’ offense posted five runs in the bottom of the inning, which proved plenty.
Severino held the Phillies scoreless through the sixth, letting up five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
“He had to battle,” Carlos Mendoza said. “Stuff-wise he was good, but they made him work. … He found a way to give us six innings.”
And after 86 pitches, he had enough energy to jump around with a group that is making a leap.