Jered Weaver: Getting better with age
Jered Weaver has the look of somebody that should be a star in Southern California. His 6’7″ frame and flowing blonde hair look perfectly in place on the cover of Surfer Magazine, a common publication that litters the sandy shores of the California coastline. But luckily for Angels fans, Weaver decided that he’d enjoy hanging curveballs more than hanging 10, and seven years into his professional career, he has become one of the best pitchers baseball.
After his days at California State University when he drew comparisons to fellow CalifornianMark Prior, Weaver was drafted 12th overall by the Angels in 2004. Living up to the hype that any first-round draft pick receives, Weaver, after posting solid numbers as an amateur, tore through the minor leagues in his first taste as a professional, eventually cracking the Angels’ Major League squad in less than two years.
Ever since he won his first nine decisions in the big leagues in 2006, tying Whitey Ford for the Major League record in doing so, Weaver has been a mainstay in Angel red.
Mike Napoli, Weaver’s battery-mate with the Angels from 2006-2010, still recognizes and appreciates Weaver’s talent. Now a member of the division-rival Texas Rangers, even Napoli gets frustrated by Weaver’s dominance, even though he knows exactly what is coming when he steps into the batter’s box to face Weaver.
Unfortunately for Napoli, he stopped catching Weaver before this season, where he has gone from rotation leader to the definition of an ace.
“He knows how to pitch and he can command the ball.” Napoli told The Good Point. “He can do whatever he wants. He mixes speeds well and has good ideas for pitching. He misses a lot of barrels, a lot of missed hits and a lot of strikeouts. He knows how to pitch; he’s not a thrower, but he knows how to move the ball around and keep people off balance.”
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Weaver started off his season unbelievably well, going 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA in six starts, and opposing hitters hit just .163 against him. In 14 starts from May 23 to August 5, Weaver compiled a 1.35 ERA and threw four complete games, three of them shutouts. He is clearly establishing himself as one of the game’s elite pitchers.
While Weaver has certainly been dominant, Sam Miller, who covers the Angels for The Orange County Register, says he has been doing things this year that he’s never seen from the right-hander.
“[He’s doing] a few things that he hasn’t really done before.” Miller said. “He struck out 15 in one game, for instance; he had a great strikeout rate last year, but he never did anything like that. He had back-to-back complete games, and has gone nine innings in five starts this year. He didn’t do that at all last year.”
Weaver’s ascension to stardom is genuine. He’s not coming out of nowhere and shocking the baseball world. He’s been getting better every year, putting up legitimate numbers that spin a tale of skill and talent, not luck. If there was something in his past that had plagued him, Weaver has made sure that no longer is the case.
“He used to be vulnerable to left-handed batters.” says Miller. “Now he’s nearly as good against lefties as righties, so opposing managers can’t just stack their lineup. The development of a two-seam fastball has given him a good weapon against lefties, and his curveball is this silly-slow pitch that is one of my favorite pitches in the game.”
Texas infielder Michael Young has battled Weaver ever since the pitcher broke into the Majors. Even though Young has been one of the best hitters in the AL West over the past decade, he has put up some of his lowest numbers against Weaver: .261/.292/.391.
“He throws all of his pitches for strikes, no patterns. He’ll drop any pitch in any situation, and he competes,” said Young, a seven-time All-Star. “I’ve had a lot of at-bats against him, and they’re always good challenges, fun battles, and I expect more of the same down the stretch.”
Weaver was fifth in Cy Young voting last year, and it’s almost guaranteed he’ll be a frontrunner for this year’s award alongside Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Weaver is either at or near the top of every significant pitching statistic, and the right-hander has started out good, became great, and is now pitching on a level that people rarely get to see.
His incredible talent and near-decade spent with the same team has allowed Weaver to become one of the most popular players ever to don a Halos uniform. He’s drawn comparisons to past Angels pitching stars like Nolan Ryan, Mike Witt and Chuck Finley, and if he continues the path he’s on, he’ll go down as one of the best pitchers in Angels history.
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