When the Yankees acquired Ryan Weathers from Miami, they knew they were gambling on an injury-prone pitcher. Weathers has thrown only 281 innings over five major league seasons. He hit a high of 94.2 back in 2021, and the only time he came close was 2024 with 86.2 innings. Last year, he managed only 38.1 innings, recording a 3.99 ERA with 8.69 strikeouts per nine and a 43.5% ground ball rate.
One thing Weathers does exceptionally well is limit walks, and that’s something the Yankees love. They were willing to take a shot on his arm because the upside is substantial. In his first spring outing, Weathers tossed 3.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. He hit 99.8 mph on his fastball, throwing the two fastest pitches of his career.
The Injury Plague That Nearly Derailed His Career
The velocity spike is impressive, but it means nothing if Weathers can’t stay on the mound. He’s thrown only 125 innings since 2024 due to a brutal sequence of arm injuries.
In 2025, Weathers suffered both forearm and lat strains that limited him to those 38.1 innings. The forearm issue alone is enough to scare off most teams, as it’s often a precursor to more serious elbow problems. The lat strain compounded the issue, forcing Miami to shut him down for extended stretches. In 2024, he dealt with a left index finger strain that prevented him from building momentum.
“I was like, ‘I gotta figure out any way to stay healthy,’” Weathers told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, who is also the cohost of the Fireside Yankees podcast, an Empire Sports Media production. “I did this before I got traded to the Yankees, and I was really seeing the benefits just playing catch and in my ability to recover, so I just kept doing it.”
The Boring Routine That Changed Everything
Weathers overhauled his daily routine, arm care, and recovery process. It’s not flashy. It’s consistent work that keeps his body ready to handle pitching stress.
“That’s kind of what I’m trying to create: a boring routine to where I feel good every time I throw,” Weathers said. “That’s what makes some guys really good. They have the same routine every day, and it could be boring, but it’s also probably why they’re healthy for 162-plus [games].”
There’s refreshing honesty in that admission. Weathers acknowledges that availability comes from doing the unglamorous work every single day.
Manager Aaron Boone, who played with Weathers’ father David, has noticed the transformation. “It seems like he really moved the needle with that this winter, getting in some good hands and understanding the arm care and the training and the eating and all that,” Boone said. “It seems like he’s made a big discovery and is doing the right things.”
The Arsenal That Could Make Him a Weapon
If Weathers can maintain that velocity and stay healthy, the Yankees have a legitimate weapon in the rotation and potentially a high-leverage bullpen arm in the playoffs. He deployed a four-seam fastball, changeup, and sweeper combination against the Nationals, and the sweeper produced a .174 batting average last year. That’s an elite secondary offering.
The fastballs were inconsistent last season, and his changeup allowed a .286 batting average. But with dialed-up velocity, the Yankees believe there’s plenty left under the hood. Matt Blake’s pitch design lab has made material changes, adding inches of movement to his slider and depth to his changeup.
Weathers knows the spring training performance needs to translate into regular season success. “Hopefully, I can stay healthy,” he said, “and I want to be maintaining my stuff into the sixth, seventh inning. Because that’s what makes a lot of these guys really good: they can maintain their stuff throughout the outing. That’s good if I can do it for a few games, but I want to do it all year.”
The Stakes for 2026
That quote is the key to understanding what Weathers represents. The Yankees didn’t trade four prospects for a guy who can look good in February. They traded for a 26-year-old left-hander with frontline starter stuff who has never put it together because his body keeps breaking down.
The Yankees need innings. Real innings. With Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt all expected to miss time early (Schmidt will probably miss the entire season), Weathers has to be more than a depth piece. He has to take the ball every fifth day without the training staff holding their breath.
If the boring routine works, if the arm care sticks, if the velocity holds, the Yankees might have pulled off one of the steals of the offseason. A healthy Ryan Weathers with 98-99 mph velocity and that devastating sweeper is a no. 3 starter on a championship roster. An unhealthy Ryan Weathers is another forgotten reclamation project. The difference comes down to the most unsexy thing in baseball: showing up every day and doing the work. So far, Weathers is doing exactly that.