82.2 mph pitch is making NY Mets depth arm more interesting than we ever imagined

You probably didn’t even notice when the New York Mets signed him. A career 4.11 ERA in Double-A and now a 6.68 ERA in Triple-A, the Jack Weisenburger signing makes you more hungry than thrilled. He appeared to be another randon Independent League find by David Stearns. Just two appearances in Mexico before joining the Mets organization this year, Weisenburger failed to make a mark with Syracuse. That 6.68 ERA mentioned earlier came exclusively with them in 2026.

We’ve now seen him four times and as limited as that may be, he continues to get big league outs. More of an innings eater than leverage arm, he has given up a run in each of his last two appearances. Even so, the feeling around Weisenburger should be positive after what he managed to do to the New York Yankees on Friday.

Weisenburger did the lifting behind starter Nolan McLean. He pitched the final 3 innings of Yankees offense. After a perfect 6th and 7th, he got himself into a jam in the 8th. Only 1 run across on 3 hits, Weisenburger and his 82.2 mph sweeper were able to head home happy.

Mets pitcher Jack Weisenburger looks like he has one pitch MLB hitters are having a tough time figuring out

Weisenburger has thrown more sweepers than anything else with an average velocity of 82.2 mph. That’s not unusual. It’s the same average velocity as Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz. Weisenburger is averaging just over 95 mph with his fastball, but that pitch caught a bat and led to a double against him. It’s the only extra-base hit he has allowed in the majors thus far.

Weisenburger has thrown 37 sweepers, more than any other pitch. Batters are 0 for 9 with a 31.8% whiff rate. Meanwhile, 4 of his other 5 pitches have a .250 batting average against or higher. Some of it is bad luck for him, good luck for the hitters. The average exit velocity against his cutter and sinker is lower than that against his sweeper. However, nobody has been able to plunk in even a base hit against his most frequently used pitch.

Weisenburger was a fun story as a 28-year-old rookie nobody paid much attention to. Now as a guy actually pitching kind of all right with one pitch in particular fooling batters enough, we can start to wonder if maybe there are ways to work him into more than what he is. Surviving in the majors with one pitch is rare with Mariano Rivera and his cutter being the best example of a player who did so at a high level. Weisenburger definitely isn’t the next Mo. What he might be able to do is build off of one dangerous pitch. 

Consider Weisenburger one of those “make them cut you” players loitering on the roster. Far too soon to start discussing a permanent stay on the big league club, the ability to go multiple innings gives him a purpose. Doing it with one pitch is dangerous, but one of those challenges the organization should embrace.

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