YANKEES DEBUT ALERT: LEFT-HANDER RYAN WEATHERS OFFICIALLY STARTS TOMORROW NIGHT AGAINST THE NATIONALS
Bronx debut: Discover how Ryan Weathers' new "bullet slider" and 97 MPH heat will lead the Yankees against the Nationals tomorrow.
Ryan Weathers is set to make his Yankees debut on the mound tomorrow night, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. The lefty will face a familiar team in the Nationals; he saw plenty of them back when he pitched for the Marlins in the NL East. The Yankees are still getting their starting pitchers ready for the 2026 season, so this outing gives them a chance to see what Weathers can do.
They picked up Weathers from Miami this offseason. He’s only 26, but he’s already been busy trying to sharpen his game. He's been working on a new two-seam fastball and a tighter bullet slider, hoping to finally show why he was once the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Before that, though, the Yankees take on Toronto today at 1:07 PM EST. Will Warren gets the start, and both Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are in the lineup.
Now, back to Weathers. Last year with the Marlins, he made eight starts and put up a 3.99 ERA, striking out over 22% of the batters he faced. The Yankees believe he has even more to offer. They’re betting that these new pitches, a better two-seamer and a firmer slider, will help him take that next step.
He throws hard; his fastball averaged 96.8 MPH last season, which got plenty of teams interested. The upside is real, but so is the risk. Injuries have slowed him down the last couple of years, cutting short what could have been breakout seasons.
First, Weathers has to prove he can stay healthy. Then, he needs to show that these tweaks to his pitch mix can help him avoid the hard contact that led to seven home runs allowed in just 38.1 innings last season. The Yankees are betting on his talent, though, and they see him as a possible future star in their rotation.
Tomorrow’s game is at George M. Steinbrenner Field, and it’ll be the Yankees’ first night game of the 2026 Grapefruit League, starting at 6:35 PM EST.
RORY MCILROY TARGETS SEVENTH MAJOR AT ARONIMINK FOLLOWING EMOTIONAL MASTERS DEFENSE
No long break for Rory McIlroy! After his 6th major win, McIlroy eyes the PGA Championship at Aronimink this May.
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Rory McIlroy isn’t following the same script after this Masters win. When reporters asked if he’d take another long break, as he did in 2025, Rory had a different plan in mind.
He’s not disappearing for months this time. Instead, he’s taking a couple of weeks off before jumping back into PGA Tour action. The next big event on the calendar is the PGA Championship, starting May 14 at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, but it sounds like Rory wants to get some tournament play before then.
He talked about his mindset shift after winning again at Augusta. “My schedule’s going to be different this year,” he said on April 13. “Last year, I thought winning the Grand Slam would be the destination. But actually, it’s just part of the ride. Now that I’ve won my sixth major, I feel great about my game and my body.
“I waited ages to win the Masters, and then I won two in a row. I definitely want to enjoy this. I’ll take a couple weeks off, but I don’t think I’ll hit that motivation lull I felt last year after the win.”
So, what comes next for Rory? He’s skipping the RBC Heritage this week, and his appearance at the Zurich Classic isn’t confirmed either.
Then, there’s Donald Trump, who might’ve let the cat out of the bag. After congratulating Rory on social media, Trump said he was looking forward to watching him at Doral during the Cadillac Championship on April 30. That’s not an official confirmation, but it’s a pretty solid clue that Rory’s next start could be there.
Now that he’s up to six majors and finally has back-to-back Masters titles, Rory’s thinking ahead. The next big stop? The PGA Championship, where he’ll chase number seven. But he’s not feeling satisfied just yet.
“I don’t want to put a hard number on it, but this is just part of the journey,” he said. “I’ve still got things I want to accomplish even as I make sure I enjoy the moment, too.”
LUKA DONčIć'S RETURN TIMELINE REVEALED; ESPN ANALYST HINTS AT LATE FIRST-ROUND COMEBACK
Ramona Shelburne reveals a potential return timeline for Luka Dončić. Discover how the Lakers can save their season.
So, when exactly might Luka Dončić make his return from that hamstring injury? A leading ESPN analyst has put forward a timeline that, if it holds true, could significantly improve the Lakers’ chances in the playoffs.
Why is this important? Because the timeline hints at Dončić possibly coming back during the first round, assuming the Lakers manage to push the series beyond a quick exit.
Dončić, originally from Slovenia, has quite a background. As a teenager, he spent five years playing for Real Madrid, even leading them to a EuroLeague title in 2018. That same year, the Atlanta Hawks picked him third overall in the draft but traded him immediately to Dallas.
Right now, Dončić is back in Spain for treatment on the hamstring he hurt early April during a Lakers loss to the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Reports from the Los Angeles Times suggest he’s undergoing advanced therapies like ultrasound-guided platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cell injections, approaches designed to accelerate healing.
It’s interesting to note that while the US only allows PRP and stem cell treatments using the patient’s own cells without manipulation, European regulations are less strict. This means doctors there can boost the concentration of anti-inflammatory agents or culture stem cells over several days, potentially speeding up recovery.
So, if these treatments yield the hoped-for results, when might Dončić be back on the court? ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne shared her perspective during a recent interview.
She pointed out that Dončić’s return could give LeBron James a fitting finale in his long and storied NBA career, basically setting the stage for a memorable chapter. Shelburne mentioned that there’s a chance Luka could rejoin the team later in the first-round series. He’s actively receiving daily treatment in Spain and stays in constant communication with teammates, which sounds promising.
Even if he doesn’t make it back for the entire first round, that window of possibility offers some hope. If the Lakers can stretch their series by a couple of games at home, maybe Dončić’s comeback becomes more than just a distant dream.
Put simply, whether Dončić returns during the first round seems to hinge on whether the Lakers avoid a sweep by their likely first-round foe, the Houston Rockets.
Looking at the Lakers’ playoff picture with just one regular-season game left, they’re on a two-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s finale against the Utah Jazz, a team sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference.
Win that game, and the Lakers secure the No. 4 seed, thanks to tiebreakers over both Houston, trailing by one game, and the Denver Nuggets, a game ahead. That would set up a first-round matchup against Houston.
However, if the Lakers win and the Nuggets lose their last game to the Spurs, the Lakers could leap to the No. 3 seed and host the Minnesota Timberwolves instead.
