Yankees couldn't even enjoy Dodgers win for 10 minutes before Luke Weaver injury concerns

Something's been amiss with New York Yankees closer Luke Weaver in recent outings. He's allowed an earned run in two of his past three appearances, following a brilliant strut to end a 1-0 victory over the Texas Rangers at home. In one of those games, he couldn't seem to harness much of anything at all, narrowly escaping the moribund Colorado Rockies. In another, a garbage time appearance on Saturday in LA, he surrendered a homer on one of his 14 pitches, raising his ERA all the way up above 1.00. Are these normal growing pains, or was he feeling genuine pain?

According to manager Aaron Boone in the immediate aftermath of Sunday's 7-3 Yankees victory over the Dodgers, he went to Tim Hill in the ninth not to prove a point about Game 1 of last fall's World Series, but because Weaver felt a tweak in his hamstring while stretching.

Now, after about eight to ten minutes of jubilant celebration, Yankees fans are right back to being cautious about the health of their core players.

Was Sunday the first time Weaver felt the injury, or just the first time it rose to the level of alarm? Regardless, the Yankees are off Monday, and must really hope for a low level of severity here.

Yankees' Luke Weaver felt a hamstring injury while stretching vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers

Enjoying things sounds great. Would love to be able to experience that someday.

Weaver's outing in Anaheim last week was his fifth in seven days. That's a level of overuse that isn't uncommon for the league's top closers, but typically, it's an October reality, not mid-May.

If the Ferocious Jungle Cat is down for any length of time, the Yankees have a short-term conundrum on their hands. Would they go back to Devin Williams, who's been brilliant this season at everything except closing, almost frittering away a 3-0 lead the last time the Yankees tried it against the Angels? Or would they hand the reins to Mark Leiter Jr., who's been their de facto backup in recent weeks, and warmed up behind Hill on Sunday night?

Hopefully, the decision-making process doesn't come to that, and Weaver can shake off whatever's ailing him. At the very least, it seems like the Yankees will bring setup man Fernando Cruz back this week to fortify the unit.