The Yankees’ downhill journey shows no signs of slowing down. Fresh off a demoralizing sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays, they opened the Subway Series against the Mets, hoping to hit the reset button. But instead, it was a déjà vu with another loss. Yet amid the broader struggles, the spotlight has zeroed in on one man. A Yankees reliever whose costly misstep proved pivotal.

His blown-up pitch in the seventh inning also exposed the Yankees’ bullpen’s vulnerability. And the man himself seems to be in no mood for sugarcoating the situation. And he went brutally honest about his rough patch. Well, we are talking about Luke Weaver, the pitcher who has yet to regain his rhythm since returning from a hamstring injury on June 20.

“I’ll be very raw and honest that I do feel slightly fazed right now, personally. I said I’ve been feeling good, that just might be a lie now, I don’t know. It’s hard to make sense of what’s going on,” Weaver went no-holds-barred about his performance post the Mets game.

For the unversed, after skipping a rehab stint following his hamstring strain, Weaver felt really good about where he was when he came off the injured list on June 20. At least he had the opinion that he was now in more control than previously. “I can tell you right now that I have not felt more fluid. And more in control of what I’m doing, dating back even to last year,” Weaver said after returning to the team.

Well, since coming off the injured list, the Yankees reliever just hasn’t looked like the same guy. And that trend continued in Friday’s Subway Series opener, when he gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to the Mets’ Jeff McNeil in the seventh, after walking off Juan Soto.

Moreover, if you have checked his game pre- and post-his injury, you will see that giving up home runs has become a real issue for him. Before the injury, Weaver had only allowed two homers while posting a 1.05 ERA over 25.2 innings. But since returning, he’s given up four homers in seven appearances, including one in each of his last three outings.

What’s more is that he allowed six earned runs in that stretch, pushing his ERA up to 3.19. Hence, in total, Weaver has been tagged for eight earned runs since rejoining a Yankees bullpen that’s already been shaky lately.

Now that Weaver sounds demoralized and clueless, we hope the Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, is aware of the situation. And a few corrective actions will be initiated. Something like reinstating Weaver’s rehab in the minors? That might be, but more importantly, the struggling Yankees’ bullpen is posing a higher threat to the team currently.

Time is ticking for the Yankees’ bullpen to rise to the situation

Currently, the Yankees rank 5th in terms of total runs scored (445), 2nd in terms of Home Runs (131), and 10th in terms of ERA (3.72). Sounds good, right? Well, that’s not the exact picture portraying the current situation of the team.

For the unversed, the Yankees’ bullpen had been struggling with a 4.95 ERA since June 15. And that’s sixth-worst in the league during that span. On top of that, the bullpen has been hit hard by injuries. This includes losing key arms like Fernando Cruz and Jonathan Loaisiga. Hence, overuse of the relievers is becoming a real problem for the Yankees.

And the problem got well evident in the game against the Mets, where Ian Hamilton also faltered apart from Weaver. Incidentally, he gave up a solo shot to Brett Baty in the sixth, which briefly cut the Mets’ deficit to one. Now, Hamilton had been on a bit of a roll lately, giving up just one unearned run over his last eight outings after a rocky start to the year.

However, when it came to deliver in a clutch moment, he faltered, and so did the entire Yankees bullpen.

Hence, considering the current situation, it’s now pretty clear the Yankees need to add multiple relievers before the July 31 trade deadline. Time is ticking with the league entering the second half, and the team has already slid to the second position.

Notably, the Yankees’ bullpen could be the difference between a deep playoff run and an early exit.