Jonathan Loaisiga has turned his Arizona stint into something the Yankees probably never quite saw coming: a full-blown comeback season that just keeps holding up. The former New York right-hander is still dealing, still missing bats when he needs to, and still looking like the kind of dependable middle-inning arm that once felt forever out of reach in pinstripes.
A little over a month after his strong run was last checked in on, Loaisiga’s numbers are still carrying real weight. Through 53 games and 51 1/3 innings, the 31-year-old has a 2.63 ERA and 3.15 FIP.
He’s walking just 5.4% of hitters, getting a 53.3% ground-ball rate, and keeping the ball in the park at a 0.53 HR/9 clip - a huge drop from the 2.12 mark he posted last season. His fastball velocity is up, too, climbing from 96.7 miles per hour in 2025 to 97.5 miles per hour this year.
It raises the question of whether the elbow flexor strain he suffered last August was more of a factor than it first appeared.
The latest proof came in Boston, where Loaisiga helped Arizona take down the Red Sox and, in the process, gave the Yankees a little bonus value from afar. He pitched an inning in the Diamondbacks’ 9-4 loss on August 18, then came back two nights later and played a key role in Arizona’s series-ending win on August 19.
That game got tense late. After Arizona came up empty in the top of the ninth against another familiar face in Aroldis Chapman, Loaisiga was handed the ball with the score tied 5-5 in the bottom half. For Yankees fans, that assignment alone probably triggered some old memories.
He handled it well. Loaisiga got Adley Rutschman to fly out, then wiped away a Nick Sogard infield single by turning a double play. Arizona pushed across two runs against Jovani Moran in the top of the 10th, and with the Diamondbacks having burned through most of their high-leverage relievers, Loaisiga went back out for the bottom half.
He did allow the ghost runner to score, but that was the extent of the damage. Three straight outs followed, two on the ground and one popup, and Arizona escaped with a 7-6 win. Loaisiga also crossed 300 career innings in the outing.
For the Yankees, the timing of the Red Sox loss mattered. New York swept the Orioles the next night, and Boston’s defeat helped create some needed separation while keeping the Yankees’ biggest rival from catching fire again.
It also invites an obvious winter what-if. The Yankees watched Loaisiga leave on a minor league deal with Arizona, and now he looks like exactly the sort of reliable arm they could have used in the middle innings.
Given how rocky his recent years in New York felt, that’s not an easy thought to sit with. But against all odds, Loaisiga has turned himself into the pitcher the Yankees kept hoping he might become.
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