Yankees playing it coy with Luke Weavers return timeline

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.The back of the bullpen has been shuffled for at least a few weeks and likely longer.The Yankees officially shifted Luke Weaver to the 15-day injured list for a hamstring strain that will require longer than those 15 days.

Devin Williams, who lost the closing job to Weaver before finding himself again as a setup man, returned to his ninth-inning duties and survived a scare in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Guardians in The Bronx.The Yankees and Weaver declined to put a timetable on his return and declined to reveal the severity of the strain to his left hamstring, which he felt “grab” while warming up Sunday at Dodger Stadium.ESPN originally reported a 4-6 week absence, a timeline that Weaver acknowledged is “floating out there” and did not want to confirm or deny.“We’ll see,” manager Aaron Boone said.“Hopefully something that over the long haul of the season serves him and us well, just preserving him a little bit and making him hopefully all the more better for us when he comes back.”Weaver is the only reliever the Yankees have used on three consecutive days (from May 20-22).

He had pitched in 24 games through May — plenty, but far from the major league high of 29 — and leads the Yankees bullpen in innings pitched (25 ²/₃).Did he pitch too often? “It’s hard to pinpoint one thing,” said Weaver, who added he had never dealt with a hamstring strain in the past.“I know what my body is capable of.

I was very blindsided by the fact that this happened.”While acknowledging the loss of Weaver — one of the best relievers in baseball who hits the IL with a 1.05 ERA and eight saves despite serving as a middle- or late-inning attack dog to start the season — is “huge,” Boone said, the Yankees will hope he returns to a bullpen that hasn’t missed a beat (or blown a game) because of Williams.One...