The Yankees were left holding their collective breath Saturday after breakout starter Ryan Weathers exited early with left forearm discomfort.
Weathers could tell something was wrong after he threw a sweeper to Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw — his 72nd pitch of the afternoon — with one out in the fourth inning of a 4-3 loss in the Bronx.
After a brief visit by the trainer, the left-handed Weathers stoically walked off the field without testing his arm with any warm-up pitches.
Weathers then underwent medical imaging, the results of which Yankees manager Aaron Boone did not have during his postgame press conference.
“You don’t love when a pitcher leaves the game, obviously,” Boone said. “So, we’ll see what we have.”
Acquired in an offseason trade with the Miami Marlins, the 26-year-old Weathers is in the midst of a career-best season, boasting a 3.60 ERA through 25 starts.
He’s been particularly sharp of late, entering Saturday with a 0.69 ERA over his previous four starts, which spanned 26 innings.
Weathers wasn’t as dominant Saturday, as he allowed two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts over his 3.1 innings. He took the loss and fell to 5-8.
“I went out there to check on him, and he just said he didn’t feel right,” catcher Austin Wells said.
“Thinking back, maybe one or two pitches before [his last one], he stepped off, reset, but I didn’t notice really anything. I thought his stuff was sharp — even the last pitch.”
Weathers has thrown a career-high 137.1 innings this season, more than tripling the 38.1 innings he pitched last year, when forearm and lat injuries limited him to only eight starts with Miami.
Before Saturday, Weathers had not mentioned arm discomfort at any point this year, Boone said.
“He’s been incredible for us the whole year, so I’m hoping for good news,” Wells said. “Hopefully, we don’t miss any time. I’ll say some prayers for sure.”
At full strength, the Yankees boast a surplus of starting pitching, and they have envisioned moving one of their starters — likely Weathers or Will Warren — into a relief role to bolster their bullpen.
But the Yankees’ rotation has yet to be at full strength this season, even with Cam Schlittler delivering a Cy Young-caliber campaign and Gerrit Cole flourishing in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Carlos Rodón (4-2, 3.22 ERA) returned Tuesday after spending more than a month and a half on the injured list due to left elbow inflammation.
But Max Fried (4-4, 2.81 ERA) landed back on the IL with a left elbow bone bruise, the same issue that sidelined him for more than two months earlier in the season.
Fried and the Yankees have said this instance is less severe than the last, and that it’s possible the left-hander could return after a minimum stint on the 15-day IL. Fried got back on the mound Saturday and threw a successful side session, keeping that goal in play.
Elmer Rodriguez, who has a 1.69 ERA in three starts at Triple-A this month, is among those who could fill a short-term rotation need.
“I think we’ll be alright,” Boone said. “Obviously, you never want significant pieces to go down, but that’s part of it. I feel like we’re throwing the ball incredibly well and [we] expect to continue to do that. In the short-term, that creates an opportunity for someone else. We’ve had people step up all year, and we need to do it again.”
Indeed, the Yankees’ pitching has carried an offense that’s struggled without Aaron Judge (rib fracture), Giancarlo Stanton (calves) and Cody Bellinger (hamstring), the last of whom is set to return Sunday from a month-long IL stint.
Those offensive woes continued for much of Saturday, when Toronto’s Dylan Cease carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke up the no-hit bid by lining a clean single with two outs in the seventh, and Wells followed with an RBI single that ended Cease’s day.
Cease — the primary competition to Schlittler in the American League Cy Young Award race — struck out eight with five walks over 6.2 innings of one-run ball. He improved to 8-5 with a 2.37 ERA, a night after Schlittler improved to 11-6 with a 2.16 ERA in Friday night’s 3-1 win over Toronto.
Saturday’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Yankees (73-56), who went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, including stranding Chisholm after a leadoff double in the ninth.
“On a day we were getting shut down, we kind of hung in there,” Boone said. “Tough one in the end, but I liked the fight all the way through.”
