Ryan Weathers' Latest Injury Update Shouldn't Alter Yankees' Postseason Plans

The New York Yankees got a positive injury update on Ryan Weathers, but this shouldn't change their postseason plans too much now.

New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers will hope to be back in the near future to help the club make a run for a World Series title. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If the plan for Ryan Weathers was for him to pitch out of the New York Yankees bullpen come the postseason, the latest update on his forearm strain is good news. According to manager Aaron Boone, an MRI showed no structural damage, and Weathers won't throw for 2 to 4 weeks, per Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record/USA TODAY. Losing Weathers for the season could have been devastating.

In the long term, it's good to know Weathers will return. He'll either get a start or two at the end of September, or they can begin the process of having him go to the bullpen. It does feel like that was the plan, and they have hinted at it before.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Ryan Weathers getting hurt is coming at the worst possible time for manager Aaron Boone. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The first instance of the Yankees considering a future for Weathers in the bullpen came back in July. The Yankees had just swept the Cleveland Guardians, and manager Aaron Boone mentioned that Weathers was in play out of the bullpen in their final game that series.

That was also the last mention of Weathers' status in the bullpen. It feels clear that once October rolls around, the Yankees likely need four starters to get through a series. Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon should lead the way, and with Weathers getting a somewhat clean bill of health in that MRI, it only makes more sense for him to be a pen arm now.

A 25.2% strikeout rate, a 6.7% walk rate, and a 49.5% ground ball rate would all play out of the pen. Plus, Weathers will give them the long relief they've gotten from Ryan Yarbrough during the season, except they would probably trust Weathers to get six outs a little more than they would trust the latter.

Still a loss for the regular season with the division in play

Of course, Weathers going down isn't great for the short term. The bottom of the Yankees rotation will now feature Will Warren and either Elmer Rodriguez or Brendan Beck.

Rodriguez has been okay but has had trouble putting batters away at the big league level, failing to pitch into the sixth inning in his four MLB starts. Beck, on the other hand, will be remembered for his July 4th meltdown, where he allowed five earned runs in 3.2 IP.

Elmer Rodriguez (71) could be a potential option to replace Ryan Weathers in the New York Yankees' starting rotation. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Yankees sit three games out of first place, and even though they'll have three horses leading the rotation until Fried comes back, the rotation gets a little thin once Cole, Schlittler, and Rodon get their turn. Every win at this point matters, so there is some cause for concern there, considering Warren is only a slightly better option than Rodriguez or Beck at this point.

At this point, the offense needs to pick up the slack — especially during those Beck or Rodriguez starts. Both are big downgrades compared to the 1.29 ERA Weathers has posted in his last six starts.

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