Leave It To Weaver

Rarely does a young boy fulfill his dream of playing under the bright stadium lights as a major league ballplayer.  It's even rarer to become one of the best pitchers in the game and better yet, throw a no-hitter.  And that rarity is now a reality for Jered Weaver who threw a no-hitter last night against the Minnesota Twins.

But like I've mentioned before, I'm a fan of Weav because of everything he does outside of the box score.  He is the consummate competitor, the perfect teammate, and a good guy as evidenced by his post game interview.  He signed a 5-year $85 million dollar contract extension in the off-season when he very easily could have made substantially more money by leaving for free agency.  But, Weaver declined and decided to stay loyal to his Southern California roots because that's just the kind of guy he is.  He's an easy guy to root for and there honestly isn't enough I can say about Jered Weaver the man.

As a pitcher, he often gets lost in the mix when you rank the top pitchers in the game.  But if I had to win one game and had to give the ball to one guy it would be Jered Weaver, no doubt about it.  He doesn't throw 98 MPH and he doesn't have a staggering breaking ball, but he sure as hell has heart.  And I'll take that on any given night.  With that said, it's not like Weaver is just an average pitcher.  He is the ace of one of the best rotations in baseball, he was a 1st round draft pick from Long Beach State, and he's cemented himself as a Cy Young candidate in the American League every year.

Weaver and his teammates celebrating the no-hitter. Careful! There's a beverage involved.

For his career Weaver is 86-47 with a 3.24 ERA.  Last night, Weaver improved his 2012 season record to 4-0 with an ERA of 1.61.  He retired 29 consecutive batters, striking out 9 and only walking one.  Out of those 29 batters, 19 of them saw first pitch strikes.  Barely reaching 90 MPH on his fastball Weaver relies on his deception and location of pitches to get batters out.  His dominance on the mound thus far has kept the Angels afloat somewhat, giving them 4 of their 10 wins.  After being pre-season favorites to win a championship the Angels are a lowly 10-15 and 7 games behind the rival Texas Rangers in the American League West.

Weaver salutes Angel fans after throwing a no-hitter.

But with what seems like an eternity left in the 2012 season this could be the spark the Angels so desperately needed.  And while many people look to Albert Pujols, Kendrys Morales, or Mike Trout as the answer, I always look to Weaver.  This team is capable of accomplishing great things but it takes solid pitching to win championships, and I'm fine with that.  When #36 takes the mound, it's signed, sealed, and delivered.

Leave it to Weaver, he'll get it done.

I'm taking off, you take it easy.

Bisq