Angels right-hander Jered Weaver experienced tightness in his neck this morning and underwent an MRI that is being described as precautionary, tweets MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. While a fair number of players have undergone such tests and checked out just fine early in spring, there’s been some added concern surrounding Weaver given the fact that his fastball didn’t top 80 mph in his second spring outing, during which he served up three homers and yielded a total of five runs on six hits and a walk without a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings. Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times was among the reporters to speak to Weaver following yesterday’s start, with Weaver telling the media, “I wake up every day hoping this is the day that it’s going to click, and it just hasn’t happened yet.” Weaver voiced confidence that he can retire hitters even with diminished velocity, but after averaging 83-84 mph on his heater last season, the former ace’s velocity figures to be an ongoing point of intrigue. Weaver is earning $20MM in the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract in 2016.
Elsewhere in the AL West…
- Jarrod Parker’s uphill battle to return from a pair of Tommy John surgeries and a fractured epicondyle in his right elbow appears to have hit a snag, per Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee. The Athletics right-hander, facing live hitters for the first time today, left the mound “yelling in pain” after throwing a pitch, Kawahara tweets. Pitching coach Curt Young, somewhat surprisingly, told Kawahara (Twitter link) that he “thinks” Parker will be OK, though he declined to go into any detail. A bullpen role for Parker had been the club’s preference for Parker, club sources told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, but Young did term the incident a “setback,” and the A’s have announced the injury as a “lateral elbow impingement,” via John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Parker is headed for an MRI, per Hickey. MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets that this injury is less severe than his previous maladies, as he currently has range of motion in his elbow.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the improbable (and that adjective is underselling the story) comeback of left-hander Rich Hill, who signed a one-year, $6MM contract with the Athletics this offseason on the heels of four brilliant September starts in Boston. Hill was granted his release from a minor league deal with the Nationals this past June and began working on throwing over the top for the first time after years of working more from a side-arm angle. Hill told his agent that he wanted an opportunity to start, and, finding no opportunities even with a Triple-A club, took to the independent Atlantic League to find a spot in the rotation. Hill parlayed that into a spot in the Red Sox’ Triple-A rotation and only received a call-up in September when Steven Wright suffered an injury. Four starts and a 1.55 ERA (with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio in 29 innings) later, Hill says he received interest from 20 teams as a free agent and actually turned down an offer for more money than the $6MM he landed from the A’s.
- Mariners relievers Evan Scribner and Ryan Cook are likely ticketed for the disabled list to begin the 2016 season, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Each right-hander is dealing with a strained lat muscle in his back, per GM Jerry Dipoto, who said the news was actually better than he’d been expecting.
- The outlook on Mariners lefty Danny Hultzen, however, is considerably less favorable, Dutton notes. The former No. 2 overall pick is again on the shelf due to shoulder pain, and manager Scott Servais said he “[doesn’t] see” when Hultzen could get into a game. Hultzen has been working exclusively as a reliever, but he experienced a setback recently, per Servais. One anonymous club official simply told Dutton that Hultzen’s status is “not good.” Dutton writes that the slew of injuries makes it easier for Joel Peralta to make the roster out of Spring Training, also reporting that Peralta is able to elect free agency late in camp if he is informed that he will not make the roster.
Am I the only one who sees a massive mechanical flaw in Jarrod Parker’s delivery?
how is he still pitching after three tommy john’s
Why is better
I don’t know what else to say about Weaver. He’s such a fierce competitor , has the heart of a warrior with a bulldog mentality, been one of the best pitchers to wear an angels uniform the last ten years, he’s an angel for life in my books. But is this the last the angels see him. he took a discount once will he take another.
I hope he just retires after this season….or maybe semi-retire and rest his arm for a season and try to make a come back after some rest/rejuvenation…I REALLY hope the Angels don’t attempt to resign him….
“He took a discount once.” “Will he take another?” If he can’t crack 80mph and doesn’t throw a knuckleball I doubt he will even be offered a contract. Hopefully, coaching is in his future because his mentality is exactly what you want to instill in the younger players. I hope he somehow manages to get his velocity back up and can stick around a couple more years.
There are some guys you have to rip the uniform away. I remember Warren Spahn pitching in Mexico after no MLB teams wanted him. Steve Carlton bounced around with several teams thinking he could still get guys out. Rickey Henderson played for some independent minor league teams in his mid 40’s…and was still stealing bases. But if Weaver can’t top 80….it’s over.
Too bad for Weaver. Seems like a solid guy. Used up maybe? Hardly an ace anymore.
He hasn’t been an Ace for a few years…I think his rubber arm has just lost elasticity…after this season he should semi retire….give his arm a full season off then see how he does at 35 w/ a comeback…
2014 was his last solid year
Not really.
100 ERA , above league average FIP
The innings are there, not much else
Well, if he cannot regain his velo, then someone very close to him had relative success pitching at slower speeds. For advice, he should truly consider looking no further than his brother Jeff….
I could easily be wrong, but I remember Jeff being a soft-tossing guy who had some success later in his career, even with his low 82-85 FB.
Either way, at 80 MPH there is OBVIOUSLY something wrong with Jered Weaver…Hopefully it is nothing career-ending, but an injury to the neck area can definitely effect arm strength.
This, ultimately, is not good news for the Angels, and especially for Jered, but hopefully they can get it figured out, and he can get his FB velo at the least back up to around 85 mph…
Those 5 MPH very well could make all the difference in the world relative to Jered’s future success, but if his injury does not allow any increase in velocity, then I’m going to go ahead and unfortunately say he is probably done as a pitcher…
Get well soon Jered, even if I’m a Braves fan, I’m still a fan of baseball and it’s players alike…The whole MLB fan base is pulling for a full recovery and no long-lastung, lingering effects!!! Best of luck to Jered, he has always been a true bulldog on and off the mound, hopefully he can pull out at least one more vital victory!!
Jeff’s advice: Continue to cash that paycheck
Jeff found moderate success as a mopup/long man. As McMurf pointed out, he was all about the paycheck.
If his FB velocity is 80mph and he is still able to keep his movement AND keep 8-10mph difference between his “hard” and “soft” stuff he still can be effective….
W/ that said his margin for error is less also…
I didn’t expect much from him last season and don’t expect much from him this season…
18-9 3.59 era over 200 innings , I say thats a solid year from him in 2014
Right now I see Romero as right handed 1st baseman, Sardinas as utility infielder, and Robertson on the bench
let’s talk about the Orioles team what yall think about the Orioles
Maybe Weaver needs to be less dismissive of anything outside of his “my way or the highway” views, and fine a way to get back his ability to pitch a baseball.
’cause right now, he’s just a stubborn guy who couldn’t lob a ball through a glass pane.
Angels could have caught Weaver with a Rawlings stain glass model mitt.
Their are 8th graders that throw harder than weaver
Very true
An 80mph fastball has to look like a volleyball coming at MLB hitters. I am surprised he only gave up 3 long balls.
Very strange to see this velocity dip. It’s exaggerated even for a pitcher losing velocity. He’s almost down to knuckleballer fb speed. Maybe he can pick one of those up.
There was a time he seemed to be Verlander’s chief competition for best starter in the AL. Then they went head to head in Detroit, JV took a no-no into the 9th, and Weaver unraveled and tried to bean Avila in the head after Carlos Guillen took him deep. He never quite seemed the same pitcher after that.
From 2010-2012 Weaver was right up there with the best pitchers in the American League. Guillen stared down weaver the whole time which was unacceptable. Then he followed that year up with a 20-5 record and then he threw a no hitter.
Hope it works out for Weaver and he can somewhat get back to what he was. Guy has a bulldog mentality and plays the game the way it should.
He’s a fierce competitor and will give it everything he has. When he was on his game from 2010-2012, nobody could match his intensity and his energy levels.