Yankees Drop Hint on Ryan Weathers Bullpen Conversion

The next name headed to the bullpen could be a current New York Yankees starter.

New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

A lot is going on in New York right now, with the bulk of the news carried by the New York Knicks, and the Yankees' sweep of the Cleveland Guardians making noise too. It's easy to miss something, and after the Bombers' big win against a team over .500—something of a rarity this season—Aaron Boone made a significant announcement that flew under the radar.

That comment was the admission about Ryan Weathers and his potential bullpen status. After the Yankees sealed their 8-4 victory on the road in Cleveland, Boone mentioned that Weathers was available for bulk innings.

"He was in play today," Boone said, according to The Athletic's Brendan Kuty, "which was awesome in and of itself. He was ready for it and whatever we needed."

Weathers was asked about it, and he's happy to do anything for his team. According to Kuty, he was on board with the decision and wants to do whatever it takes to help a bullpen that saw a lot of innings this series.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) heads to the dugout after being relieved against the Athletics during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Weathers to the bullpen

This could be foreshadowing for the southpaw acquired from the Miami Marlins this winter. The opportunity for Weathers to be a full-time pen option is likely to be whenever Max Fried returns from the injured list. Fried is already on the mend and has begun his throwing program. Once he starts making rehab starts, the picture of when Weathers will be an option out of the pen may become clearer.

It does make a lot of sense for him to be headed in that direction. For one, Will Warren is already built up after pitching 162.1 innings last year. The Yankees wouldn't want to mess with that, even if the roles were reversed and Weathers was the starter with the superior ERA.

Weathers has already eclipsed his innings count from last year. He has 70 this year. He had 38 1/3 innings pitched at the big league level in 2025. He is on his way to passing the 86.2 innings from 2024 as well if he stays on track.

Weathers definitely has the stuff for the bullpen, if the move does happen. He is averaging 95 mph on his fastball, which is a touch over league average. Coming out of the pen, Weathers can really let loose, though. He hit 99.3 mph once this season, and has had 15 pitches of 97 or more this season.

What can make Weathers such a dangerous arm out of the bullpen is his ability to get swings and misses. This season, he has an 84th percentile 27.7% strikeout rate and a 64th percentile 27.1% whiff rate. Weathers also has solid command. He has a 74th percentile 7% walk rate.

Heat aside, his best pitch is probably the sweeper. He can hit high velo on his fastball, but it has been stung a bit. Opposing batters are hitting .300 off of it with a .729 slugging percentage, while they're hitting .167 with .267 slugging against his sweeper. Weathers has a 45.2% strikeout rate on that pitch as well.

His changeup is his next-best pitch, results-wise. Batters are hitting .189 off of it with a .311 slugging percentage, and they have a 30.3% strikeout rate.

If Weathers is indeed headed to the bullpen, both he and Carlos Lagrange can serve as long relief options in the way that Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough are now. It's hard to imagine a bigger upgrade in the league right now than that, and what was once a weakness can be a huge strength in the Yankees' championship aspirations.