The New York Yankees currently hold the best record in the American League (83-61), and a berth in the World Series is in their sights. Yet they know that if World Series title No. 28 is to happen for them in 2024, pitcher Luke Weaver must continue to deliver in pressure-packed situations.
The 31-year-old DeLand, Florida, native had been a starting pitcher for most of his nine-year MLB career, but he’s made the transition to the bullpen in 2024. The move has worked out quite nicely.
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Weaver has posted a 3.24 ERA in 56 appearances so far this season, his best ERA since 2019 (when he posted a 2.94 in 64.1 innings with the Arizona Diamondbacks), and he’s struck out 83 and walked 25 in 75.0 innings pitched. On Friday, Weaver entered the game in the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the first save opportunity of his MLB career. He struck out two, allowed no hits, and earned his first major-league save.
Dream Weaver 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JV1Ep4aAxI
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 10, 2024
Weaver pitched again on Monday in the opening game of New York’s three-game home series against the Kansas City Royals, coming in for the eighth inning, and again he didn’t surrender a run in the 10-4 win.
His impressive 2024 has come at a much-needed time for the righty after a tumultuous past year.
Weaver’s 2023 season began with the Cincinnati Reds, but after struggling through 21 starts, he was designated for assignment and released in August. He caught on with the Seattle Mariners but logged an ERA over 6.00 in five appearances before he was claimed off waivers by the Yankees in September.
After closing out the season with three appearances in the pinstripes, Weaver again became a free agent. Both sides saw something with Weaver’s fit in New York, however, and he signed a new one-year contract with the team in January.
“I think it’s hard to live in this space where people think that you can be this and you continue to kind of fall short of that,” Weaver said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast last week about his harrowing year of instability. “And deep down you know you can do that, but you keep falling short.
“… It was just a struggle that year. It was an awkwardness of, ‘I’m so close to feeling healthy and implementing things physically on the mound that I’m so close to achieving and so close to putting together through a full start. And there was always one pitch, there was always one moment, that would negatively affect me on the field, mentally, physically, and just really the ballgame. It became a cycle.”
It was ultimately through his relationship with God that Weaver found peace and healing.
“I’m in the midst of my struggle and I’m praying hard,” Weaver remembered on the podcast. “I’m in 2 Corinthians 12:10 talking about Paul and this thorn in his side and he’s battling against trying to make it about himself. And he’s just like, ‘All right, You put this thorn here for a reason and You’re allowing me to know Your power.'”
Weaver has spoken publicly about his faith in Jesus before, and he even dons a “Bible Glove” while pitching. The glove was made to look like an old-school Bible, with faith-based artwork and Bible verses throughout. He also appeared as a guest on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in March 2022 and writes that he’s a “Follower of Jesus” in his Instagram bio.
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“This year has been an amazing year for me on the baseball field,” Weaver said in this month’s episode of the podcast. “[God has] answered a lot of prayers in those aspects. … I’m gracious and thankful for that.”
Weaver has sought consistently to read God’s Word and pray while finding his niche with the Yankees. He knows that building his house on the solid rock of Christ is a firm foundation that will never fail.
“I want to make sure I’m using my time and energy, both verbally and nonverbally, to impact people for eternal purposes,” Weaver said in 2019. “I want to use my career in baseball to impact a generation with the Gospel message.”
Weaver will likely have the day off on Tuesday against the Royals (7:05 p.m. ET), yet his team remains in a tight AL East division race. The Yankees are clinging to a 1.5-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles with 18 regular-season games to go.
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