Yankees’ Luke Weaver happy to be ‘on the right side’ of Aaron Judge’s dominance, learning from Gerrit Cole
New Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver knew all too well about Aaron Judge’s ability to hit a baseball hard before becoming the beneficiary of the slugger’s latest three-homer barrage.
Then a member of the Reds, the right-handed Weaver faced Judge three times during a May 20 matchup in Cincinnati — and surrendered three hits to the 2022 AL MVP.
Those hits included an RBI single that traveled 115.1 mph off Judge’s bat and an RBI double that went 103.9 mph. Judge finished that game 4-for-4, his final hit being a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning.
Weaver, whom the Yankees acquired this month, much preferred watching Judge slug three home runs in Friday night’s 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Aaron’s the man,” Weaver said afterward. “We played together back in college in the Cape Cod League. Humble as ever then, still the same guy, so it’s really cool to play with him.
“Seeing it from afar for so long, it’s nice to be on the right side of that,” Weaver continued. “I mean, the guy just hits the ball so hard, I’m surprised he doesn’t have a bazillion homers.”
Weaver, 30, picked up his first win with the Yankees after hurling 5.1 scoreless innings Friday. It was the eight-year veteran’s second game with the team — he allowed three runs in four innings last weekend in Pittsburgh — and first time pitching at Yankee Stadium.
“I had never played here. I missed it every trip,” Weaver said.
“You can’t help but be a fan. I got out there a little earlier today in my throwing program just to take it in.”
Originally a first-round pick by St. Louis in 2014, Weaver pitched three seasons with the Cardinals, parts of four with the Diamondbacks and also had short stints with Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners before the Yankees claimed him off waivers Sept. 12.
Weaver is 27-41 with a 5.14 ERA in his career and has missed time the past three seasons with a shoulder strain, elbow inflammation and an elbow flexor strain.
He’s embracing his time with the Yankees as “a sponge,” picking the brains of stalwarts such as Gerrit Cole, he said.
“Just learning from guys like him along the way, adapting and trying to find the ways to get myself to a better spot,” Weaver, 30, said. “With some injuries over the years, just really trying to be efficient and to try to get there as quick as possible to really showcase what I’m capable of doing.”
Weaver struck out three Diamondbacks and didn’t surrender a walk during Friday’s outing, throwing 78 pitches. With a week remaining in the MLB season, Weaver hopes to finish what he described as “a whirlwind” year strong.
“It’s a great one to build off of,” Weaver said of Friday’s performance. “It’s nice, with all the circumstances you put together, old team, new team, big stage — New York’s a big stage, obviously — and just to kind of control that and go out there and pitch well enough, it’s a great confidence-booster. It’s a great way to show the things I’m putting into it are coming together.”
