Kudos if you expected nondescript mid-2023 pickup Luke Weaver to somehow become both the Yankees' best fireman and funnyman, but thus far, he's emerged as an essential piece to the puzzle in both facets.
In desperate need of someone to fill Michael King's multi-inning Band-Aid role (note: NOT Jonathan Loaisiga), the Yankees unlocked Weaver, who carried an 18+ inning scoreless streak into Wednesday night's action (unfairly snapped by Cal Raleigh, who is a Bad Dude).
But when it's Weaver who needs the carrying, there's only one man he turns to: Yankees Captain Aaron Judge. While the righty was, naturally, messing around when asked by the Yankees' social team who his "Emergency Contact" would be, Weaver accidentally stumbled on some very solid points about what Judge means to the franchise. In your face, Weav Dog! You did good work out of a goof!
Notably, everyone else's answers in this video are between one and three seconds long. Weaver's, instead, begins with tented hands, deep in though, as he rambles for 30 seconds -- and somehow produces a crystal clear distillation of Judge's talents and role.
Yankees reliever Luke Weaver wants Aaron Judge to be his emergency contact
Weaver wasn't the only Yankee to select Judge -- Alex Verdugo, predictably Anthony Rizzo, joyfully Juan Soto -- but he certainly made the strongest argument, especially after half his teammates chose Gerrit Cole instead.
Hopefully, Judge doesn't have to carry Weaver out of a burning building at any point this season, and the swagged-out right-hander can continue to play the fireman role instead. But the fact that Weaver trusts his Captain to "pick up the phone at 2 AM," as one of the "nicest guys," does just as much to endorse Judge's leadership capabilities as Andy Martino's recent deep dive (also a good read, but includes far fewer mentions of flames).
While Judge has apparently been waking up in the middle of the night to help his teammates, Weaver has been creating a backlog of high-quality content, talking baseball cards, student loans, and loneliness in a recent mic'd-up session.
When in need, stick a microphone in front of Weaver and let him cook.
Seems like a fantastic guy -- but a pretty annoying phone call to receive in the middle of the night, if you're Judge.