Luke Weaver (Wikimedia Commons)
TAMPA, FL. — Luis Gil appears to have won the No. 5 and final spot within the New York Yankees’ starting rotation, but Luke Weaver helped make a strong case to be on the Yankees’ radar as either a long reliever or a spot starter.
Overcoming a shaky start to the exhibition season, the 30-year-old journeyman right-hander went 3.1 scoreless innings last week in a 12-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing just two hits and striking out two.
“I felt good, feels like some of the adjustments I’ve been making this offseason and spring training have been clicking together really nicely, creating some consistency,” Weaver said.
With the majority of his pitches being mid-90s fastballs earlier in the spring, he opted for his off-speed pitches to get outs more efficiently. He needed just 50 pitches to get through his outing against Pittsburgh.
“It’s not necessarily like I’m getting beat at the plate, I’m just getting kinda nickeled and dimed, and then getting beat at the back end with pitch count early,” Weaver explained. “There’s those moments where we’re complementing pitches to try not to rely on it, and more so using it as a weapon as opposed to something that is life-or-death, so to speak.”
If nothing, he has the confidence of his teammates.
“Weaver went out there and did this thing,” Aaron Judge said. “He’s gonna be a big piece for us, especially with Gerrit being down for a little bit of time, any chance you get a guy like Weaver to be your swingman… hop in when you need a quality start, this guy has electric stuff.”
With Gil, Will Warren, and Cody Poteet, there was plenty of competition to go around for the grand prize of being that fifth starter in the rotation.
“Sometimes it can get daunting and exhausting, but it’s also a good challenge; never satisfied with just having a good outing,” Weaver said. “So when I take an outing like [Wednesday] and then my…
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