Luke WEAVER
Yankees reliever Luke Weaver has made his way around the league, but he is having his best season yet in The Bronx. He takes a swing at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: What was it like for you putting on the pinstripes for the first time? A: Yeah, definitely a cool moment, definitely a double-take. Maybe you’re looking in the mirror, maybe you’re looking just down at the fabric. It’s one of those things I think most players, but speaking for myself ... you never thought you’d be a Yankee until you were, and it’s definitely something that I look back on and I’ll be grateful and appreciative that I was able to put on the pinstripes and be part of that fraternity. Q: Do you sense a hunger in this Yankees team to win a World Series for the first time since 2009? A: (Chuckle) We just simply look at the size of most of our players, I’d say their appetites are pretty big. At the end of the day, everybody wants it badly. As bad as fans want it, I think at the end of the day we want it just as bad, if not more. For me, I’ve never gotten to the playoffs, so I want more than anything just to get there, but to tell me that I can go win a World Series or have a chance to on this team just fires me up and it propels me to go, so I can imagine how these other guys are feeling. Q: Do you guys feel like you’re a championship team? A: I don’t think we think that way right now because we’re just focused on the game-to-game, but when we look up at the end of the season and you ask that same question, every single one of us would have said there’s not a doubt in our mind that we had the ability to do this. Q: Do you miss starting, and how do you explain your success adapting to the bullpen? A: Starting is definitely an awesome position . ... At the end of the day, life takes you one way or another, especially your career, and you just adjust, and the bullpen is not much easier. It’s got its own (chuckle) ways of making
Q: Is there one pitch that you believe has taken you to a different level?
A: Well, I don’t know if it’s necessarily one pitch as it is feeling healthy and confident. I think the cutter has really helped bridge the gap, having been a fastball-changeup guy majority of my life, it’s helped create a little bit of balance in the two.
Q: What was the low point when you lost your confidence?
A: It’s tough at this level. It comes early as a young player, it comes in the middle and it comes late. It shows up in all different ways, it comes quick and it leaves slow, and sometimes there’s times where it doesn’t come at all for a while. I think at the end of the day you have to treat it as if it’s a storm. Most storms are going to come in and cause some havoc, then you’re going to see some sunshine soon after, or at least hopeful to see it. But there’s just going to be some of that grind, some of that trial-and-error to what’s going on, but you just gotta keep the confidence alive and know that what you’ve done has gotten you there, and there’s ways to help and there’s people that want to help you do it.
Q: What’s your weight right now?
A: Well, that’s personal. (Laugh). I’m usually sitting around 180.
Q: How does a guy ... I guess skinny, I can call you skinny ...
A: Wiry!
Q: OK, how does a wiry guy like you ...
A: There we go.
Q: Throw 97 mph? Are you at 97 now?
A: Yeah, I’ve been able to hit that in games, and I think a couple of times I’ve hit 98 . ... To your question, I don’t know, it’s just always been in my DNA. I grew up and played shortstop all the time and pitched kind of secondary and just always had a good arm, just always had the arm speed, and never really had the (chuckle) heavy frame by any means, and just found ways to efficiently get it done, and just carried it all the way up until now. It’s nothing new for people to kind of question or look at me in a certain way of, why? ... I just kind of explain it as you’re looking at any other player and you just kind of scratch your head: Well how do you do this? Or, how do you do that? I think that’s the beautiful thing about baseball, there’s no perfect body type that gets you a certain result. Q: Are you one of those guys with a metabolism that you can eat whatever you want and not gain weight? A: That would be correct. I’m the type of guy who eats five pounds over his body weight and then wakes up the next morning under the body weight he started with. Q: Favorite movie? A: “Happy Gilmore.” Q: Favorite actor? A: Will Ferrell. Q: Favorite meal? A: A good ribeye with some sides. Q: What would you want or hope Yankees fans say about you? A: I guess I would just want them to remember me as someone who was extremely competitive. I think [Alex] Verdugo’s got this thing going about being dogs, just someone who had that tenacity. But then on the other side of it as a person, had fun and brought life into the clubhouse.