How Yunior Severino Turned Himself into “Mr. Consistent” at the Plate

St. Paul – After leading all of Minor League Baseball with 35 home runs last season between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul, Yunior Severino was added to the Twins 40-man roster and had a lot of expectations placed on him for the 2024 season.

Those expectations quickly weighed heavy on him starting this season with the St. Paul Saints. The first six weeks of the season were grim for the 24-year-old corner infielder. Over 38 games, Severino had a measly .148 batting average and was only hitting .190 with balls in play. There were slight flashes of his power, but only six home runs and 17 RBI through nearly 40 games was a concern.

“The first six weeks he was not the player he wanted to be,” said Saints hitting coach Shawn Schlechter, who worked with Severino most of last year at Double-A Wichita. 

Severino, Schlechter, Twins Player Development, and Front Office members began to notice something in his swing. He was swinging too hard at pitches inside the strike zone and throwing the balance off in his head, not following through on pitches with his eyes. They all decided it was time for Severino to simplify his approach, and when he started doing that on May 22 against the Buffalo Bison, things started changing for the better. 

Full disclosure: Severino, who does not speak English as his first language, provided all the quotes in this interview without the help of an interpreter.

“I’ve focused on my swing to hit good pitches and not swing too hard,” Severino said on his swing approaches. “ Because the first two months of the league because I don’t feel too good swinging too hard and moving my face when I hit the ball. Right now my focus is to swing at a good pitch and swing more slow and only focus on the contact of the ball.”

The Saints won that Wednesday afternoon game in May over Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate 18-3, and Severino was a massive part of that as he went 4-for-6, with 5 RBI, the majority of which came off a ninth-inning grand slam. He and Schlechter credit the simplification of his swing as a big turning point for him that afternoon. 

“A lot of it is a credit to his ability to make adjustments. He just wanted to work through some things and he’s been Mr. Consistent for us from both sides of the plate,” said Schlechter. 

Mr. Consistent is the best title to describe who Severino has been for the Saints as the summer has gone on. Following the dreadful first 38 games, he’s been the Saints' best hitter over his last 55 games posting a .337/.439/.564 triple slash, 1.003 OPS, has hit 12 home runs, 47 RBI, and has a .407 BABIP, all of which lead the team in that stretch. 

He's also cut down on his strikeouts considerably, having 58 over those first 38 games, but has only reached his 58th strikeouts since then during Tuesday night's 7-1 loss to Columbus. Cutting down on strikeouts has also led to more walks for the switch-hitter. He only had 19 on the season during his cold streak but has doubled that to 38 over this 55 game hot-streak. 

“The start of the season was my first time I swung a little bit too much but that’s okay the new moment is to focus on only contact on the ball and more focus on the swing and the rest of it is more better,” said Severino on the changes he’s felt since late May. 

The effort Severino has put into hasn’t gone unnoticed by either Schlechter or Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. 

It’s great, I’m really happy for him,” said Gardenhire on Severino’s changes. “I think he was putting a lot of pressure on himself because he got added to the 40-man roster but now he’s just playing again, which is really good to see. Because when he just goes out there and plays, I mean this guy can hit up against anybody.” 

“It gives us some flexibility in the lineup whether we’re facing a lefty or a righty to be able to do some damage and be productive in the top half of the lineup. A lot of that has been rebuilding confidence and trusting his ability to hit,” added Schlechter.

On the defensive front, Severino has been the Saints' primary first baseman this season with only eight games at third base. Being a corner infielder, the opportunities for Severino at the Major League level but Gardenhire got creative for Tuesday's night game starting him in right field against the Clippers. This was Severino's first start in the outfield since 2022 when he was with High-A Cedar Rapids. 

"I called our farm director the other day and talked to him about it because Sevy's been playing first base, and he's doing fine, he's been working really hard. He's moving around better now than he did back in A ball, he's leaner. He was shagging fly balls out there the other day and I was watching him and it might be something he can do a little bit better if we just get him some work out there," Gardenhire said on starting Severino in right field. 

As the Saints only have seven weeks remaining on the season, and are likely out of contention for the Triple-A playoffs. Severino can simply focus on maintaining the hitter he’s been since late May, develop more power, and chase down the Saints single-season home run record to set a new one. 

“My focus right now is contact on the ball and not swinging too hard because hits are good and we are continuing the routine to focus on the contact of the ball and I’m doing the rest of my job for my teammates.” 

With Severino on the 40-man roster, the possibility of his MLB debut is not out of the question, and if he keeps up his performance at the plate and adjusts well to new positions on the field, the opportunity could present itself sometime in September. 

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