The New York Yankees now know exactly what they need to do with Ryan Weathers.
When the New York Yankees acquired Ryan Weathers in a trade with the Miami Marlins back in January, many wondered exactly what the Yankees were trying to achieve.
Adding another starting pitcher when the rotation was already loaded?
Clearly, New York was hedging its bets knowing that both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon were starting the season on the shelf. You also never know what types of injuries are going to befall your pitching staff throughout the year.
Sure enough, Max Fried ended up going down, and Rodon then hit the injured list with an elbow injury not long after returning.
The Yankees certainly needed Weathers in the early going, and for the most part, he has done his job pretty well as a No. 5 starter.
But now, it's time to make the obvious move with Weathers: it's time to move the left-hander to the bullpen.
Yes, Rodon is still sidelined, but Fried made his triumphant — and rather surprising — return to the mound on Wednesday night, tossing five scoreless innings in a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers. Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images.Rodon won't be out for too much longer, either. He's going to be throwing a live bullpen session next week, and perhaps a rehab start will follow.
When everyone is healthy, Cam Schlittler, Cole, Fried, Rodon and Will Warren will comprise New York's five-man rotation. There won't be room for Weathers.
So why not begin transitioning Weathers to the bullpen now before Rodon returns?
Weathers was shelled for five runs on seven hits in his most recent start. He owns a 4.40 ERA on the year, and five of his last nine outings have not been good.
The strikeout rate (10.1 K/9) has been impressive, but it seems pretty clear that Weathers is starting to wind down. Keep in mind that going into 2026, the southpaw had never thrown more than 94.2 innings in a single season. He is already at 102.1 this year.
At some point, Weathers will 100 percent be moving to the bullpen. That isn't even a question. Either that, or he will be used as trade bait.
One way or another, the 26-year-old will be out of the Yankees' starting rotation soon, so sending him to the bullpen now to start preparing him for his role might not be the worst idea.
In fact, given his strikeout stuff, it's entirely possible that Weathers could develop into quite the late-inning weapon for New York.
