Ryan Weathers Was a Positive in Yankees' Loss to Mariners

Baseball is a funny sport. Cal Raleigh had been getting ripped since the World Baseball Classic, where he contributed little to Team USA's efforts. If there was a perfect time for his coming-out party, though, maybe a walk-off single against the New York Yankees, with a ball ripped right toward Aaron Judge, was it?

The Yankees were never going to go 162-0, and losing to a team that was only a few outs away from the World Series in March isn't catastrophic. The one positive was the pitching staff, which allowed only two earned runs in the loss. The one person in particular to look at was Ryan Weathers, who, despite not pitching deep into the game, showed flashes of what's possible against a tough Seattle Mariners lineup.

Weathers, who threw 77 pitches, hurled 4.1 innings of one-run ball. Despite flirting with danger at times, he struck out seven, walked two, allowed four hits, and, while his command was not sparkling, they didn't hit him all that hard.

Ryan Weathers, 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/pwWyYBdkVx
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 31, 2026

Seattle had an average exit velocity of 82.6 MPH against. His fastball, which had been torched in previous years, was something the Mariners had trouble getting their barrel on. They averaged 85.8 MPH on balls they put in play against it.

Then there were the whiffs. That was the most encouraging part of that outing. Weathers generated 11 swings-and-misses, with five coming against his fastball, in particular.

Weathers was eventually pulled in the fifth. The newest Yankee put himself in a bind by having runners on first and third with one out after singles by Leo Rivas and Cole Young. Outside of the first inning, where he threw a ton of pitches and was touched up for a run in the second, it was a moment of imperfection in an outing where he got stronger as the game went on.

A Strong Performance as a Whole

After the game, Weathers mentioned that he needed to trust his stuff more. It isn't a bad idea when that opposing lineup is having trouble squaring you up.

"Got a little bit out of myself in the first," Weathers said, according to the YES Network account on X. "Bounced back well in the first. I feel like I threw the ball well from there on out. It's just, I got behind in the counts. I just gotta trust my stuff more in the middle of the plate and get ahead in the count."

Mar 30, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Weathers did give his props to the pitching staff as a whole after the loss. It was not why they lost that game.

"The whole pitching staff has been doing well, starters and relievers," Weathers continued. "We've given up three runs as a whole entire pitching staff. That's really good. Hopefully, we can keep getting outs and keep it rolling."

The Yankees are one of seven teams in the sport's history to allow three or fewer runs in the first four games of the season, according to Katie Sharp. The last team to do it was the 2002 Giants, who reached the World Series that year. Before them was the 1970 Reds. They, too, made it to the World Series, but lost just as the Giants did.

To learn more about the Yankees from Opening Day and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!