Ryan Weathers’ Sunday start left the Yankees with more questions than answers, and not just about the box score.
The left-hander spent much of his outing at Yankee Stadium battling his own stomach, throwing up several times while trying to keep pitching through the lingering effects of food poisoning that had already moved through the clubhouse earlier in the week. By the time his day was over, he had lasted just four-plus innings in a 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins, and the sight of a visibly sick starter grinding through it turned the spotlight onto how New York handled the situation.
Weathers said after the game that he “threw up a few times during the game, just trying to get it out.”
He added, “I wanna do well for the team and try to win the ballgame,” Weathers said. “And it just didn’t happen today.”
The outing never really settled in. Austin Martin opened the game with a leadoff double, helping Minnesota jump in front 1-0 early, and Weathers kept running into traffic from there.
He was charged with four earned runs, put runners in scoring position in all but one inning he worked, and was eventually pulled in the fifth after hitting Luke Keaschall and walking Martin. He finished at 88 pitches, and a wild pitch moved Royce Lewis to second before Lewis scored on a Brooks Lee single to left.
The Yankees were already in a tough spot, leaning on a thin pitching staff during a brutal stretch, and this only deepened the concern. Weathers had already seen his previous start cut short, when he recorded just five outs while dealing with the same stomach trouble. Sunday’s line did little to ease the worry.
Aaron Boone said he appreciated the fact that his starter took the ball at all.
“Credit to him, under the weather today, and still went out there and battled,” Boone said.
Boone also pointed to one pitch that stood out even in a rough performance.
“I thought his stuff was really good, as good a change-up as I’ve seen from him, a ton of swing-and-miss with that pitch,” Boone said.
The Yankees still got six strikeouts from Weathers, but the overall trend has been moving the wrong way for a while. He had a 3.00 ERA on May 11 after a strong outing against the Orioles, and that number has climbed to 4.29 since then. On the season, he owns a 4.29 ERA with 104 strikeouts and 27 walks across 92 1/3 innings in 17 starts.
The 26-year-old is in his first season with New York after being acquired from the Miami Marlins in January in exchange for four minor leaguers. He was originally drafted seventh overall by the San Diego Padres in 2018.
There’s also the workload piece. Weathers is on pace to blow past his career high of 94 2/3 innings, set as a rookie in San Diego, which adds another layer to a situation already complicated by illness and inconsistency.
The Yankees expect him to pitch again later in the Tampa Bay series or against the Nationals, and for now they’re left hoping the sickness that hit the clubhouse is finally gone.
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