Weaver, Williams Vital In Victory Against Former Club

Winning baseball games is always fun. Wins against a rival? Even more fun.

The New York Mets took down the New York Yankees on Saturday night thanks in large part to relief outings from Luke Weaver and Devin Williams.

What are some things that these players have in common? They both are relief pitchers on the New York Mets. They both were born on the 21st of a month. They both made their major league debut in the month of August. And, yes, they both were signed immediately after seasons with the New York Yankees.

When president of baseball operations David Stearns signed both Weaver and Williams, I am imagining he hoped that several of the Mets games this season would look similar to this: Weaver to Williams in the late innings of a close game against a great team to secure a win. On Saturday, the pair of ex-Yankees combined to go three innings, giving up only one hit while striking out three against their former team, thanks to Weaver pulling a rabbit out of his hat to escape a bases loaded jam with no outs.

“Unicorn stuff” is what Juan Soto called Weaver’s Houdini act in the seventh inning. “He comes in, shows no fear, attacks the hitters, gets the job done. It’s really cool to see,” Soto told reporters after the game. Weaver threw 19 pitches, 17 for strikes, and was able to go two huge innings to help secure a win to give the Mets a chance at a series win.

In 2026, almost everything that can go wrong for the Mets has gone wrong. Whether that be injuries to key players, massive regression from usually consistent players, or seemingly strong moves on paper by the front office failing. However, and this may not be a popular opinion, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams have been good moves for the Mets this year.

I’m sure everyone remembers the Athletics game when Weaver gave up four runs in route to a loss, or when Williams didn’t record an out against Minnesota to lose the game. However, a small sample of games early on should not define a player’s season.

After Saturday, Weaver has not allowed a run in 15 of 18 appearances. Similarly, Williams has not allowed a run in 13 out of 17 appearances. In his last eight appearances, Williams has gone 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine while only allowing one hit and one walk.

As the Mets are attempting to right the ship, Weaver and Williams hitting their stride have been paramount. In the month of May, the pair has combined for 13 scoreless innings. So, what has changed?

Part of the answer that people may not want to hear: Williams’ luck is starting to turn. Under the hood, Williams is drastically underperforming what he “should” be. Coming into his appearance Saturday night, his ERA was a 5.27, compared to an xERA of 3.00. His BABIP was an absurd .438, seventh highest of any pitcher with at least 10 innings pitched. This was always going to level out, it was just a matter of time for a pitcher with a track record like Williams.

Another part of this is the fact that Williams needed to find his changeup again. The “airbender” changeup has simply not been good this year. His changeup has a negative run value for the first time in his career. Coming into Saturday, opposing batters were hitting .303 and slugging .424 off the changeup. Why is this happening?

The changeup shape is just simply not the same as it has been. This year, his changeup is, on average, getting over two inches more of arm side run than it ever has, while dropping almost three inches less than his career average. This is creating a “flatter” changeup, which was not successful early in the year.

In the case of Weaver, his pitch mix has been much different in May than it was in April. While he is throwing his changeup at a similar rate, he is throwing his cutter 10.3% more and his fastball 10.9% less frequently.

What makes his success so interesting is that his cutter has been his worst pitch this year. While it generates his highest whiff rate, hitters have done tons of damage this year off his cutter. When Weaver was at his best, he was using his fastball as a weapon. Throwing more cutters has allowed his fastball to be more successful than it was in April, which has done wonders for both him and the Mets.

Games like these feel great. It’s always great to win. It’s even better to beat the Yankees.

However, if the Mets are going to turn this season around, they need their bullpen to pitch lights out. And Williams and Weaver need to continue to be the catalyst.