Yankees Starter Could Be Dark Horse for AL Cy Young

The New York Yankees re-signed Cody Bellinger for $162.5 million this offseason, but fans still felt the winter was quieter than it should have been. No new superstar added from outside, no Soto-level splash.

Their biggest external addition was a 26-year-old lefty from Miami who has never thrown 100 innings in a big league season. For a lot of teams, that would be concerning. For the Yankees, it might just be the best-kept secret in the AL.

Ryan Weathers came over from the Marlins in January, costing New York four prospects. That is real organizational capital, and it tells you the front office sees something the injury history tries to hide.

MLB.com noticed too, naming Weathers one of three AL dark horse Cy Young candidates for 2026, with David Adler writing his section of the piece.

Adler's case centers on the raw stuff, and it is hard to argue with it. Weathers is averaging 98 mph on his four-seam fastball, 97 on his sinker, and carries three more pitches behind that. His closest comps by raw arsenal are Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Jesús Luzardo. Those are three of the best lefties in the game right now.

Adler adds that Weathers is "throwing the hardest of any lefty starter this spring… even ahead of Skubal."

But the reason he lands as a dark horse rather than a frontrunner, Adler writes:

"In a fully healthy Yankees rotation, Weathers has at least Fried, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón pitching ahead of him. Now, that doesn't mean he's going to be the fourth-best pitcher on the Yankees this year. He just has a lot of bigger names around him. Plus, Weathers is still looking to pitch 100 innings in a season for the first time. He's been injury prone."

That injury concern is real and recent. Last season with Miami, a forearm issue and a lat strain held him to just eight starts. The Yankees still gave up four prospects to bring him to the Bronx. That kind of cost tells you what the front office actually thinks of his ceiling.

Ryan Weathers Spring Training 2026 Shows Both the Ceiling and the Concern

New York Yankeespitcher Ryan Weathers — May 20, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (35) looks on against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

His first spring start against the Nationals was everything the hype promised. Three and two-thirds scoreless innings, five strikeouts, touching 99.8 mph. The Yankees sent him back out for a fourth inning simply because he was that efficient.

Then came the Mets, and it fell apart fast. Five earned runs in two innings, seven hits, command wobbled badly. Two starts in and people were already questioning whether the Yankees overpaid.

The Braves outing was somewhere in between. Four runs in the first inning, but the fastball was touching 100 mph and he punched out four without a single walk. The stuff was there. The sequencing was not.

That is actually the more honest version of who Weathers is right now. The ceiling is legitimate. The command and consistency are still a work in progress, which makes sense for a pitcher who has struggled to stay healthy over full seasons.

What matters when the regular season starts is whether he can do it for 25 starts, not three. If he does, Adler's closing line will look like an understatement:

"Weathers could be the next one if he can just stay in the Yankees' rotation all year."

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!