Luke Weaver’s first month in Pittsburgh has been a mess on paper, but the real explanation had nothing to do with a sudden collapse on the mound.
The former Yankees fan favorite said this week that a brush with a bush during the Pirates’ Aug. 11-13 series in Miami left him with a severe case of poison ivy, and that the rash had been bad enough to keep waking him up at night for weeks.
“I’ve had my own set of personal challenges over the last month, and I’ve kept them to myself, but at the end of the day, I’ve had almost a month worth of severe poison ivy,” Weaver said.
He went deeper on what happened in Miami and how long it lingered.
“To the point where I’ve just been in hives over my entire lower body. I got it in Miami (three weeks ago), so shortly after getting here.
Brushed up against a bush and my body went into a really bad state. I’ve been fighting my own personal battle with sleep.
I haven’t slept in about a month, I wake up a lot. But that’s my own deal.
I’m trying to find ways every single day,” Weaver said.
The Pirates never put him on the injured list because of the rash, even though he also dealt with a sinus cold in recent days. He stayed active, kept pitching and tried to manage it quietly while adjusting to a new team, a new clubhouse and a new role.
That’s why his numbers in Pittsburgh looked so jarring. After being acquired from the New York Mets on Aug. 3 for shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura and cash, Weaver has a 5.79 ERA in 10 appearances for the Pirates, with six earned runs, 10 hits and four walks in 9 1/3 innings.
Before the trade, he had been rolling. Weaver posted a 1.84 ERA in 42 appearances and 44 innings for the Mets, striking out 45 and walking 11. Across the full season through Sept. 3, he still owns a 2.53 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 56 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings over 52 appearances.
The timeline around his Pittsburgh slump lines up almost perfectly with the Miami trip. Weaver made his first Pirates appearance on Aug. 7 against the Mets and threw a scoreless inning.
After the club went to Miami, he made nine more appearances through Sept. 3 and gave up six earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, good for a 6.48 ERA. All six earned runs he has allowed as a Pirate came after that series.
The damage has been concentrated. He was scoreless in six of those nine outings, and five of the six earned runs came in just two appearances: three against Boston on Aug. 15 and two against San Francisco on Sept.
- The other run came at San Diego on Aug.
For Yankees fans, Weaver’s rough stretch in Pittsburgh hits differently because of what he meant in New York. The Yankees claimed him off waivers in September 2023, brought him back for 2024 and watched him become one of their most important bullpen pieces.
In 2024, he went 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA, four saves and 103 strikeouts in 84 innings over 62 appearances, and by September he had taken over the closer role. His “Dream Weaver” entrance became part of the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium.
He kept delivering in October, too. Weaver put up a 1.76 ERA with four saves and 16 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings over 12 postseason appearances as the Yankees reached the World Series, and he did not allow a run in five World Series innings.
He returned to the Yankees in 2025 and recorded a 3.62 ERA with eight saves in 64 appearances before signing a two-year, $22 million deal with the Mets. Pittsburgh then landed him on Aug. 3, expecting another late-inning weapon.
Pirates manager Don Kelly said the club has been working with Weaver and that the right-hander is in better shape now.
“It’s been tough. He got a really bad case of it.
Just navigating that in a way, trying to help him. I know our medical staff has tried to help him as much as possible to get rid of it.
It’s been tough to kick. It was a really tough case.
He’s doing a lot better now. It’s been going on for a little while,” Kelly said.
Weaver was available Friday against the Los Angeles Angels but did not pitch in Pittsburgh’s 1-0 win at PNC Park. Jared Jones got the win, Ryan Johnson took the loss and Mason Montgomery earned his ninth save as the Pirates moved to 70-72.
As of Saturday, Weaver remained on the Pirates’ active roster. His latest outing was a scoreless inning against San Francisco on Sept. 3, when he allowed no hits or walks and struck out one.
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