World Series 2024: Inside rise of Yankees closer Luke Weaver

Before becoming a Friday night starter at Florida State, before becoming a first-round pick, before becoming a journeyman-starter-turned-vital-reliever in the Bronx, Luke Weaver grew up a shortstop honing his skills in his central Florida backyard.

Mark Weaver owns 30 acres in DeLand. On one of them, right by the family house, he built a hitting compound for his two sons. It became a haven for Luke and his younger brother, Jake. There were L screens and pitching machines and lights to help them barrel baseballs when the sun went down.

"It was awesome," Mark Weaver said. "I had the Cadillac. I had it all lit up. Just like a ballpark at night, man."

Teammates and their families would convene there. The kids swung away. The parents watched from benches. They had drinks and snacks while the aluminum pinged. Luke, if you listen to his dad, was "the man. He could crank it, man. Oh my gosh."

Mark Weaver didn't play baseball beyond high school -- he has run a construction company that specializes in large remodeling projects in DeLand for 31 years -- but he was heavily invested in his sons' passion for the sport. He provided the tools and challenged them.

Luke Weaver believes it was the time spent in those cages, the countless practices taking ground balls at the local park, the two-a-days and three-a-days, that prepared him for his current role under brighter lights -- a role far different from the one he envisioned while hitting line drives at home -- and all the adversity he has confronted.

Weaver isn't just excelling in his first season as a reliever. The wiry right-hander -- he's listed at 6-foot-2, 183 pounds -- has been a godsend for the New York Yankees, and the central figure for a bullpen that has exceeded expectations in the postseason.

"His personality just clicks," Mark Weaver said. "He just changes. He gets super competitive. And he does, he gets ferocious. He's a really nice guy and kind of soft spoken at times. But I wouldn't cross him."

The quirky closer of the Yankees, who will make their first World Series appearance in 15 years on Friday night, has likened escaping a jam to "when you see the ice cream truck and your parents say yes and you kind of black out," and attributed his vast fastball improvement to drinking "local orange juice with a little bit of pulp." Earlier this month, during the Yankees' clubhouse celebration after the team advanced to the American League Championship Series, he credited the "ferocious jungle cat" inside of him for his perfect, nine-pitch ninth inning.

"I kind of throw things together and the word 'ferocious' came to my mind," Weaver, 31, said. "And then the next word became 'jungle' and then the next word was 'cat.' So, no reason for it."

An anonymous middle reliever when the season started, Weaver now enters games at Yankee Stadium to a montage and Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver" amid "LUUUUUUUKE" chants from the crowd.

In the clubhouse, he likes to keep the mood light with one-liners. His dry sense of humor has become an unexpected source of entertainment. Aaron Judge knew about it a while ago. The presumptive AL MVP played with Weaver in the Cape Cod League in 2012. Judge was coming off his sophomore year at Fresno State. Weaver was one of the few freshmen invited to play in the prestigious summer league.

"The guy always had a smile on his face, but also when he got on the mound, he turned into this different guy," Judge said. "He was just focused, locked in. Kind of watching his career unfold, he's been the same guy."

That competitive side is the reason for his rapid ascent from failed starter to dominant bullpen arm. At one point last season, while posting a dreadful 6.87 ERA in 21 starts for the Cincinnati Reds, Weaver wasn't sure whether this pitching thing was for him anymore. He arrived in New York in September 2023 as a waiver claim with a 5.18 career ERA across eight seasons with five teams. The doubt was fleeting.

"I'm thinking: 'Is this something I want to do?'" Weaver said. "And there was just absolutely no way in my core that's allowed."

A year later -- after signing a one-year, $2 million deal with the Yankees over the offseason as starting rotation depth -- Weaver became the first Yankees pitcher since Aroldis Chapman in 2017 with multiple five-out saves in a postseason and the first pitcher on any team to save his team's first four postseason wins since Neftalí Feliz did so for the Texas Rangers in 2011. He didn't surrender an earned run from Sept. 2 until Jose Ramirez homered off him in Game 2 of the ALCS -- a stretch that spanned 17 innings, 13 appearances and an unofficial promotion.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone never officially named Weaver his closer when he announced Clay Holmes was moving off the role after blowing a save on Sept. 3. Boone instead said the team would get "creative" with its bullpen usage. But Weaver effectively became the ninth-inning specialist three days later when he notched his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning at Wrigley Field. In all, postseason included, he has converted eight saves in nine chances -- four in the regular season and four in the playoffs. He has secured at least four outs in five of his eight postseason outings.

"I love what he's doing," Boone said. "He's a great person, and definitely a fun personality, too."

The foundation for his sudden success is a vastly improved four-seam fastball. Last year, in 25 starts and four relief appearances for three teams, batters hit .311 and slugged .543 with 17.5% whiff rate against the pitch. They batted .177 with a .331 slugging percentage and 30% whiff rate during the regular season this year.

Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake explained the difference stems from two changes: adjusting his grip on the baseball to create more vertical movement -- or ride -- and throwing it harder in shorter bursts as a reliever. Weaver's average fastball velocity increased from 94 mph to 95.7 mph this season. His strikeout rate climbed from 19.4% to 31.1%. In short, he became a different pitcher.

"It's kind of like one plus one equals three," Blake said.

The formula hasn't been perfect. Weaver experienced failure for the first time in his new role with the baseball world watching. One strike away from giving the Yankees a 3-0 series lead in the ALCS, he surrendered a double to Lane Thomas. Moments later, Jhonkensy Noel hammered a mistake changeup for a two-run home run to tie the game and give the Cleveland Guardians life in the series.

Weaver bided his time over the next 48 hours, thirsty for another chance. He wanted it "bad, really bad." He got it in the ninth inning in Game 5 with the score tied -- one mistake from another loss -- and retired the side in order.

"I told myself in there: 'If you give me one run, this game is over,'" Weaver said. "There's not anybody that is scoring across that plate."

Juan Soto gave him three with a go-ahead home run. Weaver then took the mound again to send the Yankees to the World Series for the 41st time.

"I wanted it," Weaver said. "I wanted it the whole time."

Mark Weaver watched from home. He, his wife and Jake will fly to New York next week to see Luke play in the World Series. It's what every kid dreams about in their backyard.

"He's finally coming to where he's figuring all this stuff out, and he's finding his role," Mark Weaver said. "I'm just so happy for him, that he's finally coming into his own."