A veteran pitcher who has been a key to the New York Yankees' success in 2024 says a prominent Bible verse gave him peace during a tumultuous stretch last year. Right-handed reliever Luke Weaver is fifth on the Yankees in innings pitched this year with a 3.17 ERA and a record of 5-3 with one save -- all after struggling to find his footing in 2023 when he played for three different teams. At one point last year, Weaver even considered quitting, he told the Sports Spectrum Podcast.
Shortly before he was released from the Cincinnati Reds last season, he read a verse from the Apostle Paul that changed his outlook: 2 Corinthians 12:10 ("That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong").
"I'm in the midst of my struggle, and I'm praying hard, and I'm in 2 Corinthians, 12:10 -- talking about Paul and his thorn in his side," Weaver told Sports Spectrum. "... And [Paul's] just like, 'Alright, You put this thorn here for a reason, because You're allowing me to know Your power, in my weakness.' There's so much power in that."
The verse "hit me like a ton of bricks," he said.
"I just reread it probably 50 times, and I just focused on it," he said.
Weaver experienced an up-and-down year with the Reds, suffering an elbow injury from a line drive roughly one month before he was waived. The Seattle Mariners claimed him for a month before he was waived again and picked up by the Yankees last September.
Weaver, who is in his ninth year in the league, said he was shocked the Yankees -- the most storied team in Major League Baseball -- wanted him.
"I remember just convincing myself like, 'This is where we're at.' Like, 'This is where God's put you,'" he told Sports Spectrum. "... I remember I broke down a couple times just through the season, sitting in my hotel bed just thinking about the success that He's brought me and the health that He's brought me, and just being like, 'Gosh, this is why we fight.'"
His goal, he said, is to be a good teammate no matter his own performance.
"I've had those conversations with God where I'm like, 'I want to be better. I want to fight to win Your favor, and just know that I'm thinking of You no matter what.' And this year has been an amazing year for me on a baseball field. He's answered a lot of prayers. … I'm thankful for that, but in return, sometimes I have some guilt where I'm just like … 'Hey, You're giving me this, but I want to make sure I'm fighting for You.'"
His faith, he said, gives him confidence on the mound.
"My foundation is built on Rock, and it can't be changed," he said. "... There's such peace in that."
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Joe Sargent/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.