Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Luke Weaver was one of the most essential pieces to the Yankees run to the World Series in 2024, but amid injuries and untimely underperformance, Weaver has not been able to be the same pitcher he was last season.
Weaver was brought into a 2-0 game in the seventh inning on Monday, looking to hold the game where it was to give his offense the chance to come back. Weaver would go on to surrender five runs in a third of an inning, with the only out being on a sacrifice bunt.
“Yeah. That was trash. Obviously, I’ll recap it. Off the rip, though, the body just wasn’t on time.” Weaver said after his worst performance as a Yankee. “It wasn’t aligned with what I was trying to execute and do. Felt like I was fighting myself the whole time. Mentally, just trying to overcome it and have a good mindset and stay within myself. Those two things weren’t coming together.”
Weaver said something that should be of a concern and it’s that he was struggling to get into the mentality. Weaver had mentioned on Saturday when he came in and shut down a Red Sox rally at Fenway, that he had previously struggled to get into the mindset that he had late last season, when he was in the highest of leverage.
Credit: Baseball Reference
Looking at Weaver’s stats, it seems he is much better when the intensity is higher. Lately, the Yankees have been using Weaver in the seventh inning, which is statistically his worst inning. Weaver’s best inning this season, the ninth inning. In fact, his ERA is close to a full run lower than the eighth inning in only three less innings pitched than the ninth inning.
Weaver was dominant down the stretch and into the postseason when he was closing games for the Yankees, and that begs the question, is Weaver struggling because he can’t find the same intensity in a setup role that he had in the ninth inning?
The Yankees might want to start using Weaver in the eighth inning and see if that might unlock the intensity the Jungle Cat has. I don’t think it would be the right decision to remove Bednar from the ninth inning given how dominant he has been with the Yankees.
If the Yankees are going anywhere in 2025, Weaver needs to be locked in and pitching well, or it will be an early exit for the Yankees.