Luke Weaver takes step back in brutal Yankees bullpen implosion

Luke Weaver looked like he had put his nightmarish start to the month behind him. Then his struggles came roaring back. 

He quickly turned a one-run Yankees lead into a three-run deficit during their 12-5 series-opening loss to the Phillies Friday night at the Stadium. 

Weaver certainly wasn’t alone in what was a horrific showing from the bullpen as the trade deadline looms — Tim Hill was charged with two earned runs, and after the Yankees cut their deficit to 6-5, Ian Hamilton gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber in the eighth inning. It was Schwarber’s second of the game. Scott Effross joined the party in the ninth inning by giving up four more runs.

New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver throws a pitch during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on Friday, July 25, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST

They combined to give up 10 earned runs and nine hits in 3 ¹/₃ brutal innings. 

“Those guys have been worked hard,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a challenge right now, but we got to have guys step up.” 

Weaver entered the game in the seventh inning with runners on second and third and one out, with the Yankees leading 3-2. Nick Castellanos hit a grounder to first base, and Paul Goldschmidt went home with the ball to try and throw out Trea Turner. But Goldschmidt continued the Yankees’ horrid defense of late, chucking the ball way over catcher Austin Wells’ head to allow Turner to score and tie the game at 3-3. One batter later, Weaver promptly gave up a towering three-run homer to J.T. Realmuto on a hanging changeup that had way too much plate as the Phillies took a 6-3 lead. 

Luke Weaver struggled in the Yankees’ loss on Friday night. JASON SZENES/ NY POST

Weaver had given up seven runs — six earned — in just 1 ²/₃ innings pitched across his first three appearances this month, all Yankees losses.

He sounded dumbfounded at the time, saying he was finding it “hard to make sense of what’s going on.”

But he responded with four straight scoreless outings — giving up just one hit in 6 ¹/₃ innings pitches — until Friday’s implosion. 

There’s been a common theme — Weaver hasn’t been able to keep batters in the ballpark. He’s now given up seven home runs in his last 15 ¹/₃ innings pitched. 

“I feel like of late, his last several [outings] have been really solid,” Boone said. “Tonight, hung a changeup to a good right-handed hitter. It’s that war of attrition. It’s hard to get everyone in a really good spot. They got him tonight.”