6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

VERY TALL, LEAN, WIRY PHYSIQUE. LONG, LOOSE, SINEWY MUSCLES. SQUARE SHOULDERS. LONG ARMS, LEGS. THIN HIPS, WAIST . RM TO CARRY MORE WEIGHT. BUILT SIMILAR TO BROTHER JEFF WEAVER. NO WINDUP, 3/4 ARM. SIDE STEP TO START. BIG HIP, SHOULDER TURN. FLASHES PLUS FB, MOST 90-91, SOME TAIL, SINK WHEN DOWN. DECEPTIVE DELIVERY, TURNS BACK TO HITTER, TOUGH TO PICK UP PITCHES. SPOTS ML SLIDER. GOOD MOTION ON SINKING CHANGEUP. PLUS CONTROL. TOUGH COMPETITOR WHO PITCHES W/ CONFIDENCE. HAS THE SIZE, MAKEUP, & PITCHES FOR A FRONTLINE ML STARTER.

— MLB.com 2004 draft scouting report on Jered Weaver

It's hard to believe that it wasn't even two years ago I was biting my nails over whether the Angels had made the right decision by drafting Jered Weaver. That was mainly predicated on the $10M package superagent Scott Boras had set as Jered's price tag, not to mention Boras's predilection for dragging out negotiations in order to extract the best possible terms for his clients. A year later, and Weaver ended up signing on the last day of eligibility, finally conceding that Rich Lederer was right about further delays harming his marketability. The lure of playing at home, and possibly with his older brother in the same market, was too great to resist.

His first start at Rancho was inauspicious; oh, he got five strikeouts, but four earned runs while not even escaping the third inning? The rust was on display for everyone to see clearly. He finished the minor league regular season at Arkansas and later got in some work in the Arizona Fall League. His AFL numbers weren't generally too impressive, but he closed out the AFL with a five-inning shutout masterpiece, comparatively, with ten strikeouts. In 2006 spring training, he had a mind-bending 1.06 ERA, a result he followed up with a 2.05 ERA at Salt Lake, 8.25 K/BB, and a 10.4 K/9, not to mention a 4-1 record in eight starts. Inbetween, he slaughtered the Giants in an ill-advised, rain-shortened exhibition game the day before the regular season; the Giants, minus Moises Alou but plus Barry Bonds, still got only two hits off Jered, and neither of them by the Giants' aging slugger. The idea that Jered might be ready for showtime beckoned.

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And so there we were yesterday, front row, third base side behind the plate, in the Diamond Club to watch Jeff Weaver's little brother on the mound. Following the luxe cuisine, we had a series of pleasant surprises when the stadium announcer gave out the lineups: Orlando Cabrera, leadoff? Mike Napoli, batting second? Slumping Chone Figgins, nowhere in the lineup? Mirabile dictu. Every now and then Scioscia surprises you by doing something not strictly in the book, like putting a high-OBP (but high strikeout) batter in the two hole.

Both of us were impressed, because the gambit paid off in only the second inning, as Orioles starter Eric Bedard walked Napoli with the bases loaded to drive in the game's second run. One of these days I'll see Napoli go yard in Angel Stadium, but for now, I'll just have to content myself with the Three True Outcomes hero's spring training homer.

But just before, we saw Weaver get into the only real jam of the whole game: giving up a single to Javy Lopez and a double to Ramon Hernandez, he looked like he was in real trouble when Jeff Conine lined out to Vlad. Fortunately, Conine hit it to the one Angel outfielder who has a decent arm, and the ball came back to the infield in a hurry. Lopez, who — no surprise — runs like a catcher, got nailed at the plate in a huge collision that seriously rattled Napoli, though he played for the rest of the game. Now, I have always lived somewhat in fear of Weaver's flyball tendencies, but as Rich pointed out at the time, only a flyball pitcher could get a double play in that situation. Some of those flyballs will end up over the fence, no doubt, and the number that do will determine just how long Jered stays in the Show.

Else, Little Weaver mastered the Orioles, reminding many of the elder Weaver's first start, an April 14, 1999 romp against the weak-hitting Twins. I recently recounted brother Jeff's career on the occaision of his blistering at the hands of the Mariners; going seven solid innings against the O's, far from the bottom of the division or the league when it comes to scoring runs, is even more auspicious.

Indeed, most of the game's excitement came not from the pitching; we learned soon enough to trust that, an odd experience for a debut game. In so doing, Jered Weaver extended his 27.1 scoreless innings streak from Salt Lake to make it 34.1 IP without a run crossing the plate. Instead, the thrills came from old friend Tim Salmon, who ripped a two-run shot into left, and from Kendry Morales, whose three-run blast into the right field pavilion was simply extraordinary in a night game. For Morales, it was his first home field homer of the year, and also marked the continuation of a streak for him: he's hit successfully in every major league game he's ever appeared in.

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Does this one game, in isolation, mean anything? Probably not; it seems likely to me that Jered will settle into the rotation and then follow a career path similar to his brother's, with early success leading to mid-career mediocrity. But if the Angels can keep him functional through his years of arbitration eligibility, it could still end up a huge win for the Halos. I'm rooting for Weaver; but his family history and the similarity of his delivery to his brother's still makes me suspicious. Nonetheless: Good luck, Jered, and congratulations on an excellent first effort.

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