Even two months ago, nobody would have expected Luke Weaver to be the one on the mound getting the final six outs to send the New York Yankees to the World Series. The 31-year-old didn’t record his first career save until Sept. 6, but now he leads all pitchers this postseason with four saves.
The person Weaver replaced in the closer role, Clay Holmes, has become New York’s set-up man. He has three holds and a 3.52 ERA in 7.2 innings in the playoffs. Together, Holmes and Weaver form the foundation of a Yankees bullpen that has the best ERA (2.56) of any team that reached the championship series.
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The two are also bonded by their shared faith in Christ.
“Clay is first and foremost one of the better dudes I’ve been around. This guy cares a lot,” Weaver recently told MLB.com. “He has an ability to let things go quicker than most, definitely better than I do. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, but he has an ability to keep him consistent as a human being, come back the next day, and he wants the ball.”
Holmes was voted to the All-Star team for the second time in three years and posted a 3.14 ERA in the regular season, but also blew more saves than he did in the past two seasons combined. When discussing his season and switching roles with Weaver, Holmes explained last week that having an identity outside of baseball helped him remain confident in his abilities.
“My confidence, my identity, who I am and what I can do is not really tied into some title that’s given to me,” he said. “Obviously it’s an honor and a great thing, but knowing who I am, knowing what I’m capable of and the pitcher I can be — the person I am — those things weren’t stripped away.”
Clay Holmes has come up big for the #Yankees this Postseason.
Getting back to that sinker has been key… #MLBTonight #Postseason pic.twitter.com/J5K2X46V1D— Ryan Rowland-Smith (@hyphen18) October 17, 2024
Holmes made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018 and posted a 5.57 ERA in parts of four seasons with the team. Right before he was traded to the Yankees, he found himself wanting to dive deeper into his faith and embrace being a living sacrifice. Since arriving in New York, his ERA is 2.69.
“When you become that living sacrifice, there’s a freedom that comes with it that allows you to just display the talents and the uniqueness that God’s given you — and the identity you have in Him — in a way that’s much greater than you can do on your own,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2023.
Weaver has had plenty of ups and downs in his career too. He had primarily been a starter, and in 2022 and ’23 held ERAs over 6.00 while playing for a total of five different teams. This year — his first full one with the Yankees — his ERA is 2.89. Last month, Weaver joined the Sports Spectrum Podcast to talk about his remarkable turnaround and faith journey.
“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,” he said on the podcast. “And deep down you know you can do that, but you keep falling short.”
His difficulties on the mound led him to lean on his relationship with God.
“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.'”
In the clubhouse after the Yankees advanced to the AL Championship Series, Weaver, who wears a “Bible glove” while pitching, described himself as a “ferocious jungle cat.” The Yankees turned the interview into an Instagram post, and Weaver left a comment citing James 1:2-4, which reads, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
“The ferocious jungle cat just comes out,” he said. “You just feed into the energy. You tell yourself you’ve got to be relentless. You’ve got to be convicted. I don’t want to mess around and sleep at night and be like, ‘I didn’t give my all. I was scared or I was timid.'”
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He’ll take that mentality into the World Series as the Yankees are the AL champs for the first time since 2009. They will face the Los Angeles Dodgers with Game 1 scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET Friday.
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