On Tuesday, the New York Yankees acquired Ryan Weathers from the Miami Marlins in exchange for four minor leaguers: Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, Dylan Jasso, and Juan Matheus.

Weathers was the 7th overall pick in the 2018 Draft out of Loretto High School in Tennessee. Older Yankee fans may remember that Ryan’s father, David Weathers, pitched for the 1996 Yankees during a 19-year Major League career.

Weathers (26 years old), put simply, throws gas—and he’s a lefty. His average fastball velocity sat at 96.8 MPH, which is well within the 99th percentile for fastball velocity among starting pitchers. He’s a three-pitch pitcher, relying on a Four-Seamer (45%), Changeup (30%) and Sweeper (19%).

The Yankees will have control of Weathers through the 2028 season, and if they feel they can finally get him on a consistent (and healthy) track, this could prove to be a shrewd short- and long-term move.

It hasn’t been the cleanest start to Weathers’ career. He has not topped 100 IP in MLB once in his now fifth big-league season and has dealt with injuries the past two years. Despite that, he’s shown consistency in his last two seasons.

ERA and IP by Year

• 2021: 5.32 ERA | 94.2 IP (10 IP in AA)
• 2022: 9.82 ERA | 3.2 IP (123 IP in AAA)
• 2023: 6.55 ERA | 57.2 IP (79.2 IP in AAA)
• 2024: 3.63 ERA | 86.2 IP (missed 88 games with a left index finger injury)
• 2025: 3.99 ERA | 38.1 IP (15 IP in AA) (Missed 125 games with a Forearm injury and a Lat muscle strain)

Weathers figures to slot into the Yankees’ Opening Day rotation::

• Max Fried
• Cam Schlittler
• Will Warren
• Ryan Weathers
• Luis Gil

Ryan Yarbrough likely moves to the bullpen, and the Yankees now have flexibility to make another splash centered around trading Luis Gil. Gil is a young, controllable arm, but the Yankees may want to play in the market for Freddy Peralta as a “win-now” move.

Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón will begin the season on the Injured List, but an eventual rotation of Fried, Cole, Schlittler, Rodon, Weathers (on paper at least) is strong.

Weathers profiles as a solid back-end rotation addition with plenty of upside. Young, controllable left-handers who can touch triple digits are hard to come by. If he can give the Yankees 145 innings across 25–30 starts with a 4.00 ERA or better—right in line with FanGraphs’ Steamer projections—it would be a welcome boost to a short-handed rotation.