Yankees’ veteran has concerning acknowledgement: ‘I don’t really feel like myself’

Yankees’ veteran has concerning acknowledgement: ‘I don’t really feel like myself’
Luke Weaver has faced six batters in the playoffs so far and has yet to record an out.AP

TORONTO — Yankees reliever Luke Weaver has a pitch tipping problem.

The right-hander revealed after Saturday’s 10-1 shellacking in Toronto, a dud to start the Division Series, that he’s been struggling to make changes on the mound related to tipping pitches.

“There’s been adjustments I’ve had to make based off of things that people are seeing, and it just hasn’t really lined up,” Weaver said. “I don’t really feel like myself, I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.”

That’s not to say that Weaver was tipping his pitches against the Blue Jays on Saturday night. He only faced three hitters to start the seventh inning, charged with giving up three earned runs on a walk and two singles. It was déjà vu after Weaver faced the first three hitters in the seventh inning in a Game 1 wild-card loss to the Red Sox this past week. It’s rather the fact that he has all these adjustments on his mind while he’s pitching and that’s been leading, in part, to his poor performances.

“That’s really the issue now,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “How much is it taking your mind away from actually executing pitches versus tipping. I think that’s the line you’re trying to avoid, basically putting too much on their plate and just letting them go out and attack the hitters.”

While Blake and Weaver didn’t give one specific outing or conversation as the source of this dilemma, it sounds like the right-hander has been navigating this challenge dating back to the final month of the regular season. Weaver insisted that he’s close — citing the fact that he’s not giving up home runs and has been burned by some batted-ball luck of late — but owned up to the fact that the “results haven’t been good.”

“There’s a feeling out there,” Weaver said. “There’s things that you’re seeing, there’s adjustments being made, there’s things that I can feel in what I’m doing that could be giving things. And so ultimately, it’s just got to be tightened and cleaned and go out there and give myself the best chance.”

At this point, with the way Weaver has been pitching in the playoffs, the reliever vowed to take a new approach moving forward.

In an effort to start executing his pitches again — and “keep [his] brain clean and clear” — he’s going to focus solely on pitching and not his tipping tendencies.

“Ultimately, I’m at a point where I’m just full send,” he said, “and none of that’s going to matter anymore. I’m going to do what I think is best for me and I’m going to go out there and attack the way I need to do.”

The Yankees certainly need Weaver to get back on track. They have the eighth and ninth innings seemingly locked up with Devin Williams and David Bednar, but other high-leverage spots are up for grabs.

Weaver’s manager, pitching coach and teammates all have confidence that he’s going to figure this out and get back to pitching at a high level in October. This team made it to the World Series last season because of Weaver’s dominance in October. They probably won’t get back there this year if he keeps this up.

“He’s a big part of this team, big part of this bullpen,” Aaron Judge said. “He helped us get to this point in the season and he’s going to have a lot of big moments for us in this postseason. I know it’s still early, things haven’t gone his way, but everybody in this room has confidence in him to go out there and do his job. He’s been a special piece of this team since he came over here. He’s one of the guys I want running out of bullpen in any big situation because I know he can handle it.”

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