A's pitcher Luis Severino prepares for his first matchup against his former teammate Aaron Judge

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Luis Severino spent years as Aaron Judge's teammate on the New York Yankees, marveling at his prodigious power and skill as a hitter.

Now Severino gets to face Judge for the first time this weekend when he is slated to start for the Athletics on Sunday in the series finale against the Yankees.

“I'm excited,” he said Friday before the series opener. “I'm just trying to figure out what to throw to Judge.”

No pitcher has been able to figure that out this season, as Judge is off to a sizzling start after getting off to slow starts to the season in recent years.

Judge enters the weekend leading the majors in almost every major offensive categories. He is batting .400 with 12 homers, 34 RBIs, 34 runs scored, a .491 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage.

“Usually this is the bad part of the season, the first month," Severino said. "It’s unbelievable what he can do. He’s such a good player. Even when he’s not doing good, he’s always the same person. That’s why he’s one of my favorite teammates. ... I feel like every year he just gets better. I don’t know how.”

Severino was with the Yankees from 2015-23, going 54-37 with a 3.79 ERA. He is slated to face the Yankees for the first time in his career after missing them last year when he was on the New York Mets.

Severino made headlines last year when he said the Yankees “only have two good hitters,” referring to Judge and former Yankees outfielder Juan Soto. Severino wouldn't say how many good hitters the Yankees have this year outside of Judge, saying he hasn't watched much because of the three-hour time difference.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said there's no ill will and that's “just Sevy.” Boone said he has only good memories of his time with Severino and is happy that his former player has been healthy since leaving the Yankees after making only 40 starts in his last five years with the team because of a series of injuries.

“I love the person. I love the competitor,” Boone said. “A lot of greatness with us, but obviously a lot of injuries that he had to work his way through. But what I’m happy for him and proud of him for is his continued dedication. It’s not easy when you have a series of some significant injuries too that really cost him a lot of time and in the prime of his career. I feel like he’s come out of that and done a great job of just learning how to navigate that, learning how to work through that.”

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