Yankees' Luke Weaver should embrace being best option for closer role
Luke Weaver #30 of the Yankees reacts after defeating the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s the top of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The Yankees have a one-run lead. Manager Aaron Boone calls on his closer, Luke Wea...
Record scratch.
“I want to make the record straight,” Luke Weaver said on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. “I don't view myself as the closer. I feel myself as someone who goes out there and tries to get outs. When the phone rings, I'm ready to go.”
That’s nice. But Yankees fans can say it in unison:
“Luke, you’re our closer.”
When the Yankees open the playoffs on Saturday against either Baltimore or Kansas City, Boone will have a rested bullpen. And he’ll have options.
His best option with that one-run lead in the ninth is to go to Weaver, whose journey from failed starter to the Yankees’ top current reliever is the stuff that postseason dreams can be made of.
Weaver, 31, has been in the majors for nine years. He has never pitched in the postseason. He went into September 2024 with zero career saves. He now has four.
Boone, as is his wont, would not to commit to Weaver as his playoff closer.
“We'll see,” Boone said. “I mean, he might be in the biggest moment, in a big spot in the seventh, and I can't get him to the ninth. I would expect him to hopefully close out some games for us.”
Is Weaver ready for this moment? Is he ready to get the biggest outs in the toughest innings in the postseason? Is he mentally tough enough?
Weaver’s argument is that he is. Not because of all the success he’s had. But because of all the hard times.
“Oh, it's built in, my friend,” Weaver said. “It comes. You get kicked in the teeth enough times, and you got to get back up, right? You got to drive home. You got to face your family. You got to be a dad, you got to be a husband, you got to be a friend, you got to be all these things. I think coming to the park every day when you're unsuccessful is one of the hardest things to do. You feel like the weight of the world's on you.”
How do you think Weaver felt last year? A former first-round pick of the Cardinals, the righthander had a 6.87 ERA in 21 starts with the Reds and a 6.08 ERA in five games (one start) with the Mariners before the Yankees claimed him off waivers from Seattle on Sept. 12.
The Yankees were at the end of a going-nowhere season. But general manager Brian Cashman and his crew have been consistently sharp in recent years in finding hidden gems for the bullpen, whether it’s Clay Holmes or Ian Hamilton or, this season, Jake Cousins (who is injured, but who the Yankees hope will make it back in time for the ALDS).
Weaver made three starts for the Yankees last season, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. If your attention last September had waned, you might have missed it.
But the Yankees saw something they could work with. Weaver re-signed on Jan. 19, a few days after the club added Marcus Stroman to round out their rotation.
Weaver was supposed to be a sixth starter/swing man type. But he evolved into a dependable reliever, and a tweak from Gerrit Cole helped Weaver improve his fastball. In 84 innings, Weaver has 103 strikeouts. And he seems to have that "it" factor you need to be a successful reliever.
Holmes struggled (13 blown saves in 43 chances for the season), and was finally removed from the closer’s role.
Weaver earned his first save on Sept. 6 against the Cubs. After that game at Wrigley Field, Weaver admitted he “blacked out” on the mound. So what is he expecting to feel the first time he is thrown into the postseason fire?
“Well, I hope I don’t do the blackout thing that I had mentioned,” he said. “But I do know my heartbeat’s going to be up, right? It’s going to be inevitable. I think there’s going to be mental preparation in just slowing the game down, making sure I’m prepared.
“I know I surprised the world a little bit, but I feel like this game's hard. I feel like this game comes with a lot of success and a lot of failure. In my account, the failure has definitely filled up a lot of the chapters. But it was for good reason. It's preparing for this moment to allow me the pitch in a city like this, on a team that’s as good as they are, to hopefully allow me to be a key piece down the stretch here.”
There’s a word for that key piece: Closer.
Weaver should try it on for size. It just might fit.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.