We’re already a week into spring training games and the Yankees already have some interesting highlights in the works. Perhaps the most intriguing name on everyone’s lips after his first appearance was Ryan Weathers, the left-handed arm who turned out to be one of the few new faces the Yankees brought in over the course of the offseason.
Weathers landed in New York via a trade with the Marlins for a package of four minor leaguers with the primary goal of boosting the early-season rotation while several key arms finish recovering from surgery and go through rehab stints. He’ll probably slide into the bullpen next, but he can make his case for something more if he can consistently show off his newfound form. Weathers touched 100 mph with his fastball in a 3.2-inning start against the Nationals, allowing just one hit and striking out five while posting a better than 50 percent whiff rate on the day. Weathers’ stuff impressed as soon as camp opened, with his versatile repertoire catching people’s attention, but being in this form after his first spring start is raising eyebrows around the league.
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The Yankees are no strangers to spring successes, and many have translated while others immediately flopped. Just last year, the team enjoyed a renaissance spring under Carlos Carrasco, gave him the fifth starting spot off the bench with Gerrit Cole out for the year, and watched him turn into a pumpkin as soon as April rolled around. Weathers is much younger than Carrasco, so missing material is less of a concern, but he already has a long history of injuries and last year was no exception, making just eight starts and pitching 38.1 innings total. So do the Yankees have anything to get excited about with Weathers, or should calmer minds prevail before setting off fireworks about his capture of Miami? It’s completely fair to want more than just a spring start before declaring him a budding rotation ace, but do you think he could prove to be a significant contributor throughout 2026?
Today on the site, John takes us through the time-honored tradition of taking a look at where all the recent former Yankees landed by 2026. Then, Estevão looks back on Johnny Blanchard’s career and his contribution to the early ’60s Yankees on his birthday, Michael previews Ben Rice’s upcoming season after dominating the metrics but getting unlucky in the process, and Nick gives us our next team preview with the Twins on the docket. Finally, after today’s spring training game, Andrés writes about the benefits of making the race for the bottom spots in the bullpen highly competitive.
Today’s matchup:
New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves
Time: 1:05 pm EST
Video: YES Network, Gotham Sports app, Gray TV, MLB Network (out of market only)
Location: George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, FL