It’s one of the unique joys of baseball in the 21st century, that analytics and data processing have unlocked potential in even the seemingly-most-helpless. Luke Weaver was unconditionally released by three teams and DFA’d by a fourth before the Yankees claimed him in late 2023. Luke Weaver wasn’t on an island of misfit toys, he was a headless Teddy Ruxpin adrift at Point Nemo.
And then, he became one of the very best relief pitchers in all of baseball. What an absolute joy it was to see Weaver come into his own in 2024.
Grade: A+
2024 Statistics: 62 G, 84.0 IP, 2.89 ERA (142 ERA+), 3.33 FIP, 3.42 xFIP, 11.04 K/9, 2.79 BB/9, 0.93 WHIP, 1.0 fWAR
2025 Contract Status: Entering the second season of a two-year, $4.5 million contract
Funnily enough Weaver was actually a fairly month-by-month kind of pitcher, which isn’t that unusual for relievers. Where Weaver shined though was exactly when the Yankees needed him to, at just the time the collective confidence in Clay Holmes disappeared. Holmes led baseball with 13 blown saves, and his actual performance is both better than that number while somehow defined by it. His last blown save came on September 3rd, and it became clear the Yankees needed to go in another direction.
Weaver’s importance to the team grew from that day, making eight appearances in September, four saves, no earned runs, and striking out 60 percent of the men he faced. He rode that lightning all the way into October, allowing no runs in the ALDS with three saves, and just three runs in 11 innings the rest of the way.
By Game 5 of the World Series it was pretty clear Weaver was gassed. The 84 innings he threw in the regular season wasn’t actually his career high, but the near-daily use of him in October, constantly in high pressure situations, certainly seemed to wear him down. You could make an argument that one of the key mistakes Aaron Boone made in the World Series was using Weaver in Game 4, a game the Yankees won 11-4.
But that’s the thing about hindsight: Weaver was brought in with the Yankees lead just 6-4 and due to face Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández. When you’re facing the possibility of a sweep in the World Series, I understand going to your best arm even if you need to be asking a lot of him.
Weaver didn’t give up any runs in Game 5 but it was obvious he was done. Coming in in relief of Tommy Kahnle, He allowed two inherited runs in, tying the game and putting the Dodgers ahead for good. Nobody can really blame him though, not after emerging from the ether as a late inning star, not after the rest of his postseason performance.
More than all of this though was his attitude. If you know me you know that I have a certain physical attraction to Weaver, and a parasocial relationship with his personality. There are few Yankees that allow themselves to be as silly as Weaver, and we caught more than a glimpse of that side of him:
The Yankees are interested in Tanner Scott, and they haven’t announced who the closer is for 2025. Whatever role he’s in, Luke Weaver will be just as wiry, and hopefully just as stellar, in his second full year in pinstripes.
