Yankees closer Luke Weaver returns way ahead of schedule in dream activation

When Luke Weaver felt a tweak in his hamstring while stretching during the finale of the Yankees' series at Dodger Stadium, the initial reports on his prognosis were bleak. Weaver was expected to miss 4-6 weeks dealing with the interruption to his finely-tuned mechanism, knocking him out through the All-Star break (pending an unexpected exhale).

In the coming days, though, Weaver's chipperness indicated a possible bout of better news. Was he really pain-free, though, or just deluding us all with his cat-like grin?

As it turns out ... yeah, maybe for the first time ever, Weaver wasn't kidding around. The Ferocious Jungle Cat threw a pain-free bullpen again this week, leading to his near-immediate activation on Friday afternoon.

Jayvien Sandridge, promoted only for Thursday's game after Yerry de los Santos went down with an elbow issue, will head back down to the minors, a Yankee in name only for now.

Yankees' Luke Weaver returns from IL way ahead of schedule from hamstring injury

No rehab assignment, either. We wouldn't expect anything less out of this particular wild animal.

Before he took a temporary break, Weaver suffered through a few shaky outings in Colorado, Anaheim, and Los Angeles, watching his ERA balloon all the way to ... lol, oh, 1.05 in 25 2/3 ridiculous innings. During Weaver's time away, the Yankees have slid a bit, but through very little fault of the bullpen; the offense disappeared while new closer Devin Williams dominated in his return to his Opening Day role.

Williams has posted a 1.35 ERA in seven June outings, striking out 10 men in 6 2/3 innings while walking only one. That surge coincided almost exactly with Weaver's departure, and we ... will ... take it.

Now, the bullpen only gets deeper, with Jonathan Loaisiga regaining his stuff by the outing (did you see him in extras against the Angels?!) and Fernando Cruz shaking off an injury absence. Weaver is a crucial piece for this full-strength Yankees attack. Now, he'll need to use some of his one-of-a-kind motivational skills to wake up the offense that surrounds him, too.