Alexander Wilson
The New York Yankees won Monday, so Ryan Weathers’ night will not carry the same sting it would have in a loss.
It still should not be ignored.
Weathers has been a useful rotation piece for the Yankees, and nobody should pretend otherwise. He has given them real innings, missed bats, and helped stabilize a rotation that has been waiting for Gerrit Cole to make his way back. But the Blue Jays game showed the other side of the profile, and it came down to one problem that can turn a decent start sideways fast.
The ball left the yard twice.
The home run issue is not small
Weathers allowed five earned runs over 5.1 innings against Toronto, striking out seven and walking nobody. The command was there. The swing-and-miss was there. The damage control was not.
Two homers changed the whole feel of the outing, and that matters because the larger numbers already point in that direction. Weathers is sitting at 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 61 strikeouts, and 13 walks across 50.1 innings, but his 1.43 HR/9 is the warning label.
His 4.13 FIP, 3.52 xFIP, 42.1% hard-hit rate, 11.5% barrel rate, and 4.22 xERA paint the same picture. He can miss bats, but when hitters square him up, they are not exactly rolling over soft grounders to second.
Weathers is still giving them value
The conversation still needs some balance. Weathers is not a problem for the Yankees. In a year where rotation depth has already been tested, he has been part of the solution.
The Yankees would sign up for a mid-3.00s ERA from a back-end or middle-rotation arm every single time. The lefty has also kept the walks down, and that is a big deal. If he is not giving away free traffic, he gives himself a real chance to survive the occasional mistake.
Still, the Yankees cannot just shrug off loud contact. With Cole’s return getting closer, the rotation is about to get more crowded, and every starter will have to make a case for trust.
Weathers has made a good one so far. Monday just added a few complications.
The Yankees need the cleaner version
The best version of Weathers attacks the zone, gets whiffs, and keeps the ball in the park enough to let the offense do its job. The shaky version still throws strikes, but too many of them find barrels.
The margin gets thin quickly, especially in Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees do not need Weathers to pitch like an ace once Cole is back. They need him to be reliable, efficient, and dangerous enough to avoid turning every middle-inning lead into a bullpen scramble.
If the long ball stays under control, Weathers has a real place in this rotation. If it keeps showing up, the Yankees may have to treat Monday’s win as the warning it was, not the escape act it became.
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