Yankees Still Have Faith in Greg Weissert After Disastrous Debut
OAKLAND — Hours before first pitch on Thursday in Oakland, Greg Weissert's bushy mustache could hardly contain the right-hander's grin as he spoke about his first big-league promotion.
The right-handed reliever listed off how many family members and friends made the cross-country trip to watch him make his debut, providing a scouting report on his arsenal while standing in front of his locker in the visitor's clubhouse.
Weissert replaced an injured Nestor Cortes on the active roster, a well-deserved call to the show after a spectacular season working as the closer down in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
When the 27-year-old took the mound at RingCentral Coliseum later Thursday night, however, the electric stuff that helped him to post a 1.76 ERA with 18 saves across 40 games in Triple-A was nowhere to be found.
Weissert was wild from his very first pitch he threw all the way to his last, an MLB debut to forget.
Coming in with a 13-1 cushion in the seventh inning, Weissert faced just five batters, charged with three earned runs while recording just one out.
The right-hander's first big-league pitch was an errant sinker, a pitch that tailed in and hit Athletics second baseman Jonah Bride in the hip. Settling back on the mound to face center fielder Skye Bolt moments later, Weissert balked, allowing Bride to advance to second. He proceeded to plunk Bolt in the right knee on his next offering.
Weissert settled in enough to retire shortstop Nick Allen—the next batter he faced—on an 0-1 slider, inducing a harmless fly ball to shallow center field. From that point on, however, Weissert continued to miss the zone, and miss it badly. He ended up walking the next two batters he faced, allowing one run to score before Yankees manager Aaron Boone pulled the plug, summoning left-hander Lucas Luetge from the 'pen.
All told, Weissert threw 15 pitches on Thursday. Only five of them were strikes. Just two crossed the plate in the digital strike zone shown on YES Network.
"I think it sped up on him a little bit there," Boone said after the game, a 13-4 win for New York. "So, only up from there. Doesn't change what we think about him. We think he can really help us. So get that one out of the way and try to get him back out there in another situation, because he's certainly capable."
Third baseman Josh Donaldson agreed that the game sped up around Weissert. He may have a plethora of high-leverage experience in the minors, but nothing compares to a Major League stadium, even one with just over 10 thousand fans.
"Take a deep breath. Just play catch," Donaldson explained. "Ultimately that's what it's about. We've all had that big-league moment where it all starts speeding up on us and it's okay. It's going to happen. He's going to move past that next time he has an opportunity."
Disastrous debut aside, Weissert has a real opportunity to make an impact in New York's bullpen going forward. With Clay Holmes (back), Scott Effross (shoulder), Miguel Castro (shoulder), Albert Abreu (elbow) and more all on the injured list, the Yankees need reinforcements. If Weissert can flush Thursday's outing and carry over the results he showed with the RailRiders, he'll be able to stick around.
It starts with throwing strikes, though. Weissert admitted that strikes have been the key to his success at the Triple-A level, getting ahead of hitters before turning to his wipeout slider. Back in 2021, Weissert walked 22 batters in 36.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. This year, in 46 innings, Weissert walked just 19 batters.
"That's a rough one, obviously," Boone added. "You run to it and try and get him back out there in another situation, because his stuff will play."
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