Yankees fans have slight reason to be concerned after Ryan Weathers' impressive showing

One of the more anticipated arrivals at New York Yankees spring training was the newly acquired Ryan Weathers. Weathers was one of the few external pieces brought in this winter, and was perhaps the most divisive acquisition the team made.

There are legitimate reasons to be excited about Weathers. The lefty has a live arm and the potential to put forth an impressive arsenal, but his talent belies his production, with a 4.93 ERA on his resume to date.

The former first-round pick seems intent on changing that narrative, showing up to camp and immediately hurling pitches registering 97 and 98 miles per hour on the gun. Weathers averaged 96.8 miles per hour last season on his fastball, so regularly meeting and exceeding that in mid-February is rare.

This time of year, most pitchers are just beginning to ramp up. They're throwing bullpen sessions and short simulated games to get their arms loose. Typically, they're registering a few ticks below their average regular-season fastball velocities.

So what's going on here? Is it reason to be impressed or cause for concern?

Ryan Weathers impresses on the radar gun to open Yankees' spring training, but there's reason to be concerned

It would be easy to assume that Weathers is trying to make a statement with his new team, trying to impress in the early going and overthrowing in order to stand out. He insists that this is the norm for him this early in the spring, and while that might be true, we're skeptical.

Clarke Schmidt hurt his elbow in spring training while competing for the fifth starter job back in 2021 after increasing his velocity coming into camp. It's hard not to view that as a cautionary tale.

Weathers is no stranger to injuries himself. Despite pitching parts of five seasons, he's managed just 281 innings for his entire career. His career-high 94 2/3 frames came back in 2021, and he was limited to just 38 1/3 innings last season after suffering a forearm strain in spring training, followed by a left lat strain in June.

That spring training injury caused him to begin the season on the IL. With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón set to open the season on the shelf, New York can ill afford for Weathers to join them.

There was one other positive development to come out of Weathers' work so far. The southpaw has apparently added a two-seamer to his repertoire to combine with his riding fastball, changeup, and slider. The introduction of the new pitch could help him keep the homers down if it sticks, and that would be a good thing after he struggled to the tune of 1.64 HR/9 in 2025 and 1.60 over the course of his career. We know he possesses the heat. Now, we need to see it paired with the type of movement that comes from a drastic reshaping.

The arm looks formidable, and we hope Matt Blake can work his wonders to bring out the best in the 26-year-old, but we'll be holding our breath all spring if he continues to air it out like this.