Ryan Weathers had just finished throwing a bullpen and sweating in a sauna when Peter Bendix, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, called him on Tuesday.
Bendix informed the left-hander that Miami had traded him to the Yankees. It was a familiar twist of fate for the Weathers family, as the then-Florida Marlins dealt Ryan’s dad, David, to the Bronx during the 1996 season. David went on to allow one run over 11 innings that postseason, which ended with a Yankees championship and started a dynasty.
Despite the family history, the younger Weathers said that his trade, which sent prospects Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus to Miami, came as “pure shock.”
“I just couldn’t believe that the New York Yankees were a team that I could ever have a chance to play for,” he said Thursday, “so I’m really excited.”
Speaking over Zoom, Weathers added that it didn’t take long for him to connect with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake after Bendix hung up. His conversation with Blake briefly laid some groundwork for some potential changes the Yankees hope to see from the 26-year-old, who recorded a 3.54 ERA over 24 starts the last two seasons.
Weathers expects to alter the usage of his five-pitch arsenal. He threw his high-90s four-seam fastball 45% of the time last season, but his changeup (29% usage), sweeper (19% usage) and slider (4% usage) all had whiff rates over 33%. Weathers also incorporated a sinker 4% of the time.
After speaking with the Yankees, it sounds like Weathers will throw a two-seam fastball — be it a sinker or something else — more against left-handed hitters this coming season. The hope is that that helps his four-seamer and sweeper, though he noted that “we haven’t really gotten into any details yet.”
Weathers has elite stuff, but he’s also had trouble staying on the mound.
In 2025, flexor and lat strains limited him to just eight starts, and there was also an index finger strain in 2024.
Weathers has only totaled 186.1 big league innings since 2022 after throwing 94.2 frames as a rookie for the Padres in 2021, but he said he is enjoying a healthy offseason.
“This is the best I’ve probably felt in a year and a half,” he said.
Some changes are helping with that as well, as Weathers has been focused on taking care of his lat and back. He’s also adjusted his lifting routine and mobility work, and he believes “my arm is reaping the benefits.”
“I’m just excited to see where the season goes,” said Weathers, who was labeled a “breakout” candidate by his former manager, Miami’s Clayton McCullough, during the Winter Meetings last month.
While Weathers has some bullpen experience, he is expected to crack the Yankees’ season-opening rotation with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt all starting the year on the injured list. Still, Weathers said he’ll do “whatever the Yankees want me to do. My job is to throw the baseball when they give it to me in whatever capacity that is, for however long it is.”
He also said that he is looking forward to learning from the Yankees’ veteran pitchers, though he’ll be a bit shy and wait for his new teammates to approach him in spring training.
“I’m not gonna go to anybody,” Weathers said with a laugh. “I’m gonna be in my locker, and when somebody talks to me, I’ll talk to them, but I’m not gonna step on anybody’s toes.”
Weathers shouldn’t be so reserved, as he has been in big league clubhouses his entire life.
His dad spent 19 seasons in the majors, ending his time with the Yankees in 1997 while also throwing for eight other teams. Weathers mostly remembers his father’s time in Cincinnati, where he made frequent use of Great American Ballpark’s batting cages and hung around Joey Votto, Dusty Baker and Ken Griffey Jr., among others. Aaron Harang, meanwhile, remains a mentor to this day.
Of course, Weathers’ greatest influence was his dad, who also played with Boone and Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus.
“I just remember pops taking me to the field every day. I know when his arm was hurting, he would still throw me BP,” Weathers said. “When I first started going through it and getting adversity and getting traded, he really helped me along those lines of figuring out, ‘This is what you do with your new team. This is what you do in your day-to-day work.’”
David also told his son about how loud old Yankee Stadium was during the 1996 playoffs. The recollections have Weathers eager to follow in his father’s footsteps as he begins a new chapter of his own career.
“I’m looking forward to putting the pinstripes on,” he said. “It’s an incredible honor when an organization of this caliber wants me to pitch for them.”
