Luke Weaver hasn't been his typically productive self since being dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline, and it looks like there is an underlying issue as to why.
"I've had my own set of personal challenges over the last month, and I've kept them to myself, but at the end of the day, I've had almost a month worth of severe poison ivy," Weaver recently told Jose Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
"To the point where I've just been in hives over my entire lower body. I got it in Miami (three weeks ago), so shortly after getting here. Brushed up against a bush and my body went into a really bad state. I've been fighting my own personal battle with sleep. I haven't slept in about a month, I wake up a lot. But that's my own deal. I'm trying to find ways every single day."
Weaver has posted a 5.79 ERA for the Pirates, despite owning a 2.02 FIP and 10.6 K/9. All six of the earned runs he's allowed with Pittsburgh have come since he visited Miami between Aug. 11-13.
Prior to joining the Pirates, the 33-year-old Weaver allowed just nine earned runs in 44 innings for the New York Mets, which included a stretch of 25 straight outings without giving up an earned run.
