The Yankees survived without him, but they will gladly welcome Luke Weaver back to their bullpen this weekend.
Weaver could be activated off the injured list as soon as Friday, manager Aaron Boone said, as long as the reliever got through his work Thursday without any issues.
It has been fewer than three weeks since Weaver strained his hamstring while stretching in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium, and while his injury came with a reported timeline of four to six weeks, he is likely to beat that.
“Maybe a little [surprised], just based on the initial readings,” Boone said Thursday before a matinee against the Angels. “That being said, I know he felt good right away.
“Looks really good, so it’s all been encouraging.”
When Weaver landed on the IL — at which point he had a 1.05 ERA with eight saves — it thrust Devin Williams back into the closer role after losing it in late April because of early struggles. With Weaver out, Williams converted all four save opportunities while giving up one run and striking out five in five appearances spanning 4 2/3 innings.
Boone was noncommittal on who would be his closer once Weaver was active.
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “Let’s get through the day with Luke and then when he’s ready to come back, we’ll have that conversation.”
Either way, Weaver’s return will be a boost for the bullpen at large.
“I mean, it’s Luke Weaver,” Boone said. “But just then the trickle-down effect that that has obviously on giving you more hammers at the back end of the game especially and slotting guys into better slots. Anytime you add someone like Luke, it just makes the entire thing better, on top of what he brings.”
Just as Weaver was about to return, the Yankees placed Yerry de los Santos on the injured list Thursday with right elbow discomfort. The reliever, who threw 14 pitches Wednesday night, was having trouble extending his elbow and was undergoing tests on Thursday to determine the cause.
To fill his spot in the bullpen, the Yankees called up lefty Jayvien Sandridge, who they last saw in big league camp before he got hurt. The reliever had since returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and struck out 13 over seven innings with a 1.29 ERA.
“Big arm,” Boone said. “He had an assignment clause here recently, so he was going to go on the roster regardless of what happened with Yerry. With Yerry then going down, obvious to bring him.”
