Luke Weaver injury could force Yankees hand with Devin Williams

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Jasson Domínguez did not sound too concerned about his contused left thumb Sunday night before the Yankees flew home. That Luke Weaver was unavailable to speak about his hamstring because he was still getting treatment on it was more concerning. The Yankees arrived back in New York early Monday morning for a day off after their 6-3 West Coast trip, but were left holding their breath to see how Domínguez and Weaver felt and what potential tests revealed a day after each was injured in Sunday’s win over the Dodgers. Weaver had already finished warming up to pitch the bottom of the ninth when he was stretching and “felt something in the middle of his hammy,” said manager Aaron Boone, who was “hoping it’s not too serious.”The reliever is off to a dominant start this season, posting a 1.05 ERA with eight saves and 24 strikeouts in 25 ²/₃ innings. If Weaver does require a stint on the injured list, it could thrust Devin Williams back into the closer’s role after Boone removed him from it in late April.

Williams has mostly been better since then, not giving up a run in 13 of his past 15 appearances.His only save opportunity in that stretch came last week against the Angels, when Weaver was unavailable after pitching on back-to-back days, and Williams gave up a pair of runs before finishing off the 3-2 win. Williams pitched the eighth inning Sunday in what was then a 6-3 game and was sharp, striking out Hyesong Kim and Teoscar Hernández around Shohei Ohtani’s groundout. After his swing-and-miss ability went missing in the first month of the season, Williams rediscovered it in May — he now has a 34.8 percent whiff rate, good for the 95th percentile in the majors — which should help if he goes back to closing games on a regular basis. “[Williams] pitches with an edge out there,” Boone said last wee...