Los Angeles Angels need a Jered Weaver resurgence in September
By Tim Haberin
Not too long ago, one would place Jered Weaver among the game’s elite pitchers without much hesitation. From 2010-2012 he went 51-25 with a 2.73 ERA and finished within the top five in AL Cy Young voting each season. The following two years, though not quite as dominant, were still exemplary, with the towering right-hander collecting 18 wins as recently as last season.
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2015 has been a very different kind of experience for the Los Angeles Angels hurler, however. Weaver owns an uncharacteristic 4.78 ERA through 131.2 innings, allowing more than a hit per inning. His strikeout numbers are also down significantly. He peaked at a 9.3 K/9 in 2010 and until this season never dipped below 6.4 K/9. This year he is averaging just 4.8 batters fanned per nine frames.
Last night’s outing was a definite step in the right direction, though, and with the Halos still in the thick of the AL Wild Card hunt, that is a very encouraging development. Though the Angels suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat, Weaver held a potent Texas Rangers lineup (one of the teams L.A. is trying to beat to a postseason berth) to four hits and one run over six innings, striking out three and walking three on the evening. It was just his tenth quality start in 21 tries so far this year.
Weaver has dealt with erratic performances all season. His numbers in May (2.83 ERA in six starts) provided hope that he was getting himself on track and poised to have a solid season. However, he followed that month up with four weak outings in June (6.58 ERA in 26 innings) before landing on the disabled list with a hip injury.
When Weaver returned on August 9, the results were still not very promising. He pitched to a 5.59 ERA over his next five outings, until last night’s bounce-back. The Angels will keep their fingers crossed that this is the start of much better things for their one-time ace.
Though never a particularly hard thrower, Weaver’s velocity has taken a pronounced dive over the past few seasons. His four-seam fastball this year averages about 85 mph, down from 90 mph at the beginning of his career. After ten seasons in the big leagues, that’s not entirely unexpected. He is now relying primarily on his changeup and cutter, but those pitches haven’t exactly been mystifying batters this year (.289 and .266 BAA, respectively).
Los Angeles Angels
Adapting to declining velocity is something many pitchers deal with at some point or another, and for arms with a lot of innings on them (Weaver averaged 196 innings from 2007-2014) it’s not unusual for that to happen around age 32 or so. Weaver need only look at some of his peers like Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia to see similar situations.
Verlander in particular seems to have figured things out. Since July 10, the former Cy Young and MVP winner has posted a 2.31 ERA and limited opposing batters to a .211 average. Each pitcher is unique, of course, but Verlander’s rejuvenation is a testament to the fact that you can still be highly effective even if your pitches don’t have quite the same zip.
For Weaver, it’s about finding the right mix of pitches to keep hitters off balance. That can be a challenge when your fastball isn’t much faster than your changeup. His slider remains a very efficient option (.159 BAA), however, and could be a valuable tool for him moving forward.
With the emergence of names like Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago and Andrew Heaney, Weaver doesn’t need to be a bona fide ace anymore. But C.J. Wilson‘s season-ending elbow injury means he still has an important role to play in the Angels’ postseason push. The Halos are currently 3.5 games out of the second AL Wild Card spot with 27 games to go. If Weaver can string a few more starts like his last one together throughout the month of September, it can only help his team’s chances.