Home runs remain an issue for Yankees' Ryan Weathers in loss to Blue Jays

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jun 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TORONTO — Lately, Ryan Weathers’ outings have meant home runs are in the forecast for the Yankees’ opponents.

That remained the case on Friday, as the left-hander surrendered two long balls in the Yankees’ series-opening loss to the Blue Jays. The Bombers fell, 8-5, in their first game at Rogers Centre since last October’s ALDS, which the Jays won in four games after taking the series’ first two contests in Toronto.

The ballpark was a house of horrors for the Yankees during the 2025 regular season as well, as they dropped 6 of 7 games in Canada.

While Weathers wasn’t responsible for any of those losses, the offseason trade acquisition put the Yankees in an early deficit on Friday.

With Ernie Clement on first and two outs recorded in the opening inning, Weathers tossed a wild pitch before serving up an RBI double to Alejandro Kirk, who was reinstated from the injured list earlier in the day. Kirk then scored on an upper-deck blast from Kazuma Okamoto before the first frame came to an end.

George Springer, meanwhile, launched another two-run jack in the second inning after Weathers hit Andrés Giménez with a pitch. Once again, the damage came with two outs on the board.

Although the Yankees put up a fight against Blue Jays phenom Trey Yesavage — the righty was tagged for five earned runs — Weathers’ inability to keep the ball in the yard put his team in a hole that it couldn’t climb out of.

The 26-year-old, who totaled 4 1/3 innings, five hits, six earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts over 82 pitches, has now allowed 15 home runs this season. Only six pitchers have given up more homers this season.

Weathers has coughed up multiple homers in five of his 13 starts this season, but big flies have been particularly problematic for him over his last three games. He’s permitted seven dingers and 16 earned runs over that stretch as his ERA has inflated to 4.36.

Prior to that, Weathers had a 3.14 ERA.

Weathers’ recent ineffectiveness — he did throw seven scoreless innings four starts ago on May 24 — has coincided with his innings count drastically outpacing what he’s done in years past.

With Friday’s game in the books, he has now logged 72 1/3 innings this season. Plagued by injuries during his time with the Padres and Marlins, Weathers has never thrown more than 94 2/3 innings in a big league season. That figure came during his rookie year in 2021.

Weathers only threw 38 1/3 innings for Miami in 2025; he’s already close to doubling that.

Regardless of performance, the Yankees may find themselves in a position to limit Weathers’ workload down the road. If the rest of their rotation stays healthy — that’s a big if — Weathers could shift to the bullpen whenever Max Fried returns from a bone bruise.

That’s not imminent — Fried will throw off a mound for the first time since his injury on Saturday — but it’s easy to see Weathers’ high-grade stuff playing up in shorter bursts for a bullpen that could use the help.

Weathers wasn’t the only Yankees pitcher who let the Jays score on Friday, as a fifth-inning Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double off Jake Bird drove in a runner that had been inherited from the starter. Bird was also charged with a run on a Kirk single, while Clement hit an RBI double off Fernando Cruz, which took a funky bounce on right fielder Max Schuemann, in the eighth.