Yankees’ Luke Weaver implodes in ugly return off injured list

This was hardly the return Luke Weaver or the Yankees were hoping for. 

With Weaver healthy and Devin Williams pitching as well as he has since becoming a Yankee, the team was confident the back end of the bullpen was in a good spot. 

But Weaver allowed a pair of runs in the top of the eighth in a 5-3 loss to Baltimore as Aaron Boone and the Yankees try to determine how best to use the two right-handed relievers. 

Before the loss, Boone said he planned to use both, although he highlighted Weaver’s versatility. 

Weaver was activated from the IL on Friday after being sidelined for nearly three weeks with a left hamstring strain and allowed a leadoff, go-ahead homer to Ramón Urías in the top of the eighth and didn’t survive the inning. 

“I threw a solid pitch, and he had a pretty good swing,” Weaver said. “I was pretty devastated to see it go over. It’s not the start I was looking forward to. I felt I let the team down in the moment.” 

Weaver added he had trouble controlling his changeup, as well as putting hitters away with two strikes. 

Prior to Weaver’s disappointing return to the mound, Boone said Weaver and Williams would each be asked to close games. 

The manager added Weaver would be asked to pitch more than one inning at times, as well as occasionally in a “fireman” role earlier in the game, if needed. 

The Yankees liked Weaver in that role when he emerged in The Bronx last season before Clay Holmes’ difficulties in the closer role forced them to put Weaver there, where he excelled. 

Again in the early part of this season, when Williams faltered badly after arriving in a trade from Milwaukee in the offseason, Weaver was shifted back to the closer role. 

Williams began to pitch better setting up Weaver and has thrived of late closing in Weaver’s absence. 

Boone said Williams’ improvement began when he was still in a setup role and he would be unafraid to use either in any spot. 

“On nights when both are available and we’re in the eighth inning in a save situation, then I’ll probably match it up with who we think they line up best [against] coming up,” Boone said. 

And he’s confident Williams will pitch well whenever asked. 

When it was noted Williams has performed well as the closer, entering Friday having allowed six baserunners in his previous six outings, covering 5 ²/₃ innings, Boone responded that Williams’ rebound goes back longer than that. 

His fastball/changeup pitch mix has worked better since early May, and Williams has excelled over a 17-outing stretch. 

“This has been over a month now of some excellence,” Boone said. “[Williams] is gonna close a lot of games. That’s the reality.” 

He added: “We want to put him and [Weaver] and the rest of the guys in the best situations possible. There will be those given nights where we’ll probably use [Williams] in the eighth.” 

Still, Williams hasn’t been as dominant as Weaver was prior to the IL stint. 

Weaver entered Friday having given up just three earned runs in 25 ²/₃ innings, with a minuscule WHIP of 0.701. 

Whichever direction Boone and the Yankees go for now might not last the rest of the way, as was proven in 2024. 

“Last year was very unknown,” Weaver said of his first season with the Yankees, when he began as a multi-inning reliever, graduated to a high-leverage role, then ended up closing the final month of the regular season and throughout the playoffs. 

The acquisition of Williams pushed Weaver back to a setup role, but he’s proven to be adaptable to just about anything the Yankees ask him to do.