Yankees’ veteran has concerning acknowledgement: ‘I don’t really feel like myself’
TORONTO — Yankees reliever Luke Weaver has a pitch tipping problem.
The right-hander revealed after Saturday’s 10-1 shellacking in Toronto, a dud to start the Division Series, that he’s been struggling to make changes on the mound related to tipping pitches.
“There’s been adjustments I’ve had to make based off of things that people are seeing, and it just hasn’t really lined up,” Weaver said. “I don’t really feel like myself, I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.”
That’s not to say that Weaver was tipping his pitches against the Blue Jays on Saturday night. He only faced three hitters to start the seventh inning, charged with giving up three earned runs on a walk and two singles. It was déjà vu after Weaver faced the first three hitters in the seventh inning in a Game 1 wild-card loss to the Red Sox this past week. It’s rather the fact that he has all these adjustments on his mind while he’s pitching and that’s been leading, in part, to his poor performances.
“That’s really the issue now,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “How much is it taking your mind away from actually executing pitches versus tipping. I think that’s the line you’re trying to avoid, basically putting too much on their plate and just letting them go out and attack the hitters.”
While Blake and Weaver didn’t give one specific outing or conversation as the source of this dilemma, it sounds like the right-hander has been navigating this challenge dating back to the final month of the regular season. Weaver insisted that he’s close — citing the fact that he’s not giving up home runs and has been burned by some batted-ball luck of late — but owned up to the fact that the “results haven’t been good.”
“There’s a feeling out there,” Weaver said. “There’s things that you’re seeing, there’s adjustments being made, there’s things that I can feel in what I’m doing that could be giving things. And so ultimately, it’s just got to be tightened and cleaned and go out there and give myself the best chance.”
At this point, with the way Weaver has been pitching in the playoffs, the reliever vowed to take a new approach moving forward.
In an effort to start executing his pitches again — and “keep [his] brain clean and clear” — he’s going to focus solely on pitching and not his tipping tendencies.
“Ultimately, I’m at a point where I’m just full send,” he said, “and none of that’s going to matter anymore. I’m going to do what I think is best for me and I’m going to go out there and attack the way I need to do.”
The Yankees certainly need Weaver to get back on track. They have the eighth and ninth innings seemingly locked up with Devin Williams and David Bednar, but other high-leverage spots are up for grabs.
Weaver’s manager, pitching coach and teammates all have confidence that he’s going to figure this out and get back to pitching at a high level in October. This team made it to the World Series last season because of Weaver’s dominance in October. They probably won’t get back there this year if he keeps this up.
“He’s a big part of this team, big part of this bullpen,” Aaron Judge said. “He helped us get to this point in the season and he’s going to have a lot of big moments for us in this postseason. I know it’s still early, things haven’t gone his way, but everybody in this room has confidence in him to go out there and do his job. He’s been a special piece of this team since he came over here. He’s one of the guys I want running out of bullpen in any big situation because I know he can handle it.”
Seahawks fans get some great news from early-season rookie rankings
Seattle Seahawks' general manager John Schneider began a major reconstruction of his offense early this offseason when he dealt away quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf, and allowed franchise legend Tyler Lockett to depart via free agency. Those players constituted a significant part of the Seahawks’ offensive identity.
A little more under the radar, Schneider made no effort to re-sign free agent left guard Laken Tomlinson, who had been one of the steadier performers on a beleaguered offensive line. With the 18th pick in the draft, Schneider may have figured he could find a younger upgrade at the position.
According to NFL.com’s Gennaro Felice, it was a smart decision. Felice recently published his ranking of the best rookies in the NFL after the first four weeks of the 2025 season. Seahawks’ first-round pick Grey Zabel placed seventh on the list. He was the highest-ranked of the seven offensive linemen singled out by Felice.
Grey Zabel has done exactly what the Seattle Seahawks hoped he would do
Zabel stepped in at left guard from day one and has never looked back. It is obvious he still has a lot of room to improve. He will get physically stronger, and he will learn the nuances of the game. But if his early performance is any indication, Zabel will be an anchor on the offensive line for many years to come.
As Felice points out, Zabel has played all of Seattle’s 240 offensive snaps this season. Right tackle Abraham Lucas is the only other Seahawk to play every snap. He has surrendered zero sacks and committed zero penalties.
As a point of comparison, the veteran Tomlinson, now in Houston, has played far fewer snaps and has given up two sacks while committing one penalty.
The results have been obvious on the field. Zabel is one of two new starters on the offensive line. He is now playing left guard next to his college teammate Jalen Sundell, who has been starting at center. The rest of the line, which was considered a major weakness on last year’s team, is intact.
Through four weeks, the Hawks have improved their yards per play from 14th in the league last year (5.5 yards) to 8th this year (5.7). What makes that even more impressive is that they are much better balanced this year. They are running more.
Last year, they struggled to open holes for Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Geno Smith was forced to throw more. That makes an increase in yards-per-play an even more significant factor since a team’s passing yardage is almost always higher than its rushing output.
Seattle is currently 18th in the league in rushing and is still looking to improve on that number. But they finished last season ranked 28th in rushing, so the metamorphosis appears to be well underway.
Zabel has not merely helped improve the running game. Last season, Geno Smith was sacked the third-most times in the entire league. That is partly because Seattle’s ineffective running attack forced them to throw more, and partly because their offensive coordinator never seemed to commit to running the ball in the first place.
But it was mainly due to injury (Lucas missed much of the year) and poor play (aside from left tackle Charles Cross, the line simply didn’t protect very well).
Through four games, with Lucas healthy and Zabel on the inside, Seattle is tied for sixth in fewest sacks allowed. That is not all attributable to Zabel, but he has been a key factor in the improvement.
The most encouraging thing about Zabel’s early performance is that he will continue to get better. Playing next to Cross, it shouldn’t be long before Seattle has one of the best left sides in the entire league.
After whiffing on several recent offensive line draft picks, Schneider needed to hit big on this year’s first-rounder. Fortunately, it appears he did just that.
