Bay Shore's Greg Weissert shaky in Yankees' debut
Greg Weissert of the Staten Island Yankees and Bay Shore tracks a hit during pregame warmups before a game against the Hudson Valley Renegades at Richmond County Bank Ball Park on July 4, 2017. Credit: Errol Anderson
OAKLAND, Calif. – Greg Weissert called the previous 36-hour whirlwind that led him to RingCentral Coliseum Thursday for his possible big-league debut “crazy.”
But “awesome” as well.
The 27-year-old native of Bay Shore, whom the Yankees drafted in the 18th round of the 2016 draft out of Fordham University, was brought up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Thursday as the corresponding roster move for the club putting Nestor Cortes Jr. on the IL with a left groin strain.
Weissert had a rough welcome to the big leagues though.
Weissert came in to start the bottom of the seventh, and his numbers were not good. Far from it. He faced five batters, walked three of them, hit one, committed a balk and got one out before being relieved by Lucas Luetge. Weissert surrendered three earned runs (81.00 ERA).
Weissert, whose performance this season with Scranton all but forced the Yankees to give him this opportunity, said he was pulled “early” from his previous outing with Scranton Tuesday night, a contest in Omaha.
Weissert said Wednesday morning he was on “the first plane” out for the trek to San Francisco, where the Yankees stay on their trips to the Bay Area to face the A’s.
“We really like him,” Aaron Boone said of Weissert before Thursday night’s 13-4 victory over the A’s. “He’s kind of rocketed through our system the couple of years…he’s kind of kicked his way in and we think he’s a guy that can, not only just fill a spot [on the roster] but come up here and impact us.”
Weissert posted a 1.76 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 40 appearances with Scranton, with 67 strikeouts and 19 walks in 46 innings. He’s gone 18-for-19 in save chances.
“Definitely throwing more strikes this year and getting ahead of people more consistently,” Weissert said of what’s keyed his success this season. “Using my best pitches in tight situations.”
What kind of scouting report would Weissert [who did grow up a Mets fan] give on himself?
“Two-seam fastball, four-seam fastball, slider, changeup,” he said. “I’ll get ahead with the breaking ball or use it late in the count, depending on the situation. But I’m going to try to attack hitters and go after them and get ahead.”
