Luke Weaver may end up following the Clay Holmes career arc.
The New York Yankees reliever spoke about his pending free agency, returning to the Yankees and the potential to start, during an appearance on “The Show” podcast with New York Post baseball writers Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman.
Weaver, of course, was the Yankees closer down the stretch and in the postseason a year ago, supplanting Holmes, the now-former Yankees pitcher.
Holmes signed with the crosstown-rival New York Mets and has been one of their most effective starting pitchers, sporting a team-high 11 wins plus a respectable 3.77 ERA and 4.09 FIP in a team-best 30 starts.
Yet, Weaver, who like Holmes was unseated first by Devin Williams then by trade-deadline acquisition David Bednar as the Yankees closer.
Weaver is 3-4 with a 3.90 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and eight saves in 59 appearances for the Yankees this season.
What Did Luke Weaver Say About Returning To The Yankees?
Weaver has played for six teams over 10 big-league seasons but has seemed to find a home with the Yankees.
“It’s a place where, if you can pitch here you can pitch anywhere,” Weaver said. “That’s simply has truth to it.”
Yet, when asked about the potential to cash, the usually candid Weaver deflected about his future.
“That’s something I don’t want to think about,” Weaver said. “It’s something I try to avoid because all I have is right now. All I can do, when I go to the field today, is have a good catch play, is have a good attitude with my teammates, prepare to go into a game, to try to do the best I can today.”
Weaver was a revelation for the Yankees in 2024 — after they plucked him off waivers from the Seattle Mariners and gave him three starts in 2023. The right-hander came out of nowhere, first as a setup man then as New York’s ninth-inning guy, posting a 0.93 WHIP and four saves in the regular season before amassing four saves and posting a 1.76 ERA and 0.65 WHIP in 15 1/3 postseason innings a year ago.
“Last year, I feel like I [stayed present and focused] really well after coming off of a point where ‘rock bottom’ and trying to rebuild who I think I could be,” Weaver said. “I find myself in an unbelievable opportunity of pitching where I was in the circumstance I was, and I’ll never forget it.”
Weaver admitted his mindset has changed though in 2025.
“This year has been a little bit tougher because that mentality has shifted,” Weaver said. “I go from trying to prove to the world to feeling like I have proved myself to trying to sustain it, and that comes with different challenges as well.”
Still, Weaver sounded like he was preparing to move on from the Yankees after the year — even though he said “in no way do I want to let that come to an end.
“This place will always have a special place in my heart and the memories that will come with it,” Weaver said before adding “I’m absolutely open to [returning to New York].”
What Did Luke Weaver Say About Being a Starting Pitcher?
Sherman asked Weaver about going back to starting pitching, and Weaver laughed at the notion.
“For so long, being a starting pitcher, you don’t expect to be a reliever,” Weaver said. “Being a starting pitcher has got to be the best job in the big leagues, especially when it’s going well.”
Unfortunately for Weaver, his tenure as a starter did not go well. He is 25-42 with a 5.05 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 106 starts, but he still left himself open to the potential to start in the future.
“I’m very much open to it,” Weaver said. “But I also am not just like ‘I want to do that’ or ‘I want to do this.’ I’d like to have those options if they’re there.”
Yankees Pitcher Luke Weaver Opens Up on Free Agency & Future Plans