TORONTO -- Luke Weaver hasn’t felt like himself on the mound recently. He certainly hasn’t looked like himself. And the 32-year-old right-hander is openly admitting it.
A breakout bullpen star during the Yankees’ 2024 run to the American League pennant, Weaver has had a rough start to the ‘25 postseason. He allowed all three batters he faced to reach during the seventh inning on Saturday evening, and all three came around to score in a 10-1 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Division Series at Rogers Centre.
It marked the second straight such outing for Weaver, who allowed the only three Red Sox batters he faced to get on while taking the loss in Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.
“The results haven’t been good. There’s been a lot of internal factors,” Weaver said. “I don’t want to get too crazy into it, but there’s been adjustments I’ve had to make based off of things that people are seeing, and it just hasn’t really lined up. It’s been pretty late in the adjustment period, and it’s just not lining up out there. …
“I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack. I do feel physically strong. I do feel mentally strong, overall. I just think there’s just some factors that are building up, and I’m just not executing at the clip I want to.”
Asked to further clarify his comments, Weaver implied that he might have been tipping pitches down the stretch. His struggles haven’t been exclusive to the postseason, as he recorded a 9.64 ERA over his final 12 outings of the regular season -- though he strung together six scoreless appearances against a trio of sub-.500 teams (Twins, Orioles, White Sox) to end it.
Weaver reiterated he didn’t “want to get into the depths of it” or “make this a thing,” and he plans to shift his focus away from the adjustments he has made to try to avoid tipping.
“I’m at a point where I’m just, ‘Full send,’ and none of that’s going to matter anymore,” Weaver said. “So I’m going to be what I think is best for me, and I’m going to go out there and attack the way I need to do.”
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said the team is on top of all of its hurlers this time of year in an effort to get the most out of them in the most important games of the season. It has been an ongoing process working with Weaver, who has shown the potential to be a top relief arm.
“You’re trying to be careful about moving guys around and changing things up, but that’s kind of where we’re at,” Blake said. “When Luke Weaver is healthy and convicted in his pitches, he’s got as good a chance as anyone to get people out.”
After bouncing around multiple teams early in his 10-year MLB tenure, Weaver’s career stabilized with the Yanks in 2024, when he recorded a 2.89 ERA in 62 regular-season outings and a 1.76 ERA over 12 postseason appearances. He continued to serve as a top high-leverage option early in ‘25, with an ERA sitting at 2.52 entering Aug. 20.
On Tuesday, Weaver issued a leadoff walk to Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela before allowing a double to Nick Sogard and a go-ahead two-run single to pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida. On Saturday, Weaver endured the following sequence: a leadoff walk to Daulton Varsho, followed by a single to Anthony Santander and an RBI single to Andrés Giménez.
Both Santander (1-for-6) and Giménez (0-for-7) have struggled against Weaver in regular-season meetings. But this time, the Blue Jays’ hitters won their matchups against the righty, whose velocity was still sitting around 95-96 mph like usual.
“Again, not a stuff issue,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It can click like that, because the stuff is there. We've just got to get him locked in with his delivery.”
Weaver is only the second pitcher in history to face three-plus batters and not record an out in each of his first two appearances in a postseason, joining left-hander Rick Honeycutt of the 1989 Athletics. Honeycutt (who also faced Toronto in those outings) finished the playoffs with a 16.62 ERA over six games during the A’s run to a World Series title.
In addition to the life on Weaver’s pitches, there are other encouraging signs for a potential turnaround. He is keeping the ball in the yard, and none of the four hits he has allowed this postseason have had an exit velocity above 98.3 mph, per Statcast. (The other three have all been 96.9 or lower.)
“I feel like I’m close. I feel like I’m competitive,” Weaver said. “I’ll leave everything out on the field. It won’t be a matter of not trying, it won’t be a matter of allowing myself to roll over. I’ll compete with anybody in this entire world, and at the end of the day, I’ll die trying.”