Fantasy Baseball Fix: 2011 Jered Weaver Predictions

If you missed the previous entries of the Fantasy Fix click below.

We’ve reached the completion of the Fantasy fix. We counted down the 12 most fantasy relevant Angels for the 2011 season. It should come as no shock that our #1 ranked Angel is Halos ace Jered Weaver. Weaver is coming off a stellar 2010 season where he led the majors in strike outs (233) while compiling a 3.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a staggering 9.35 K/9 in 224 innings pitched. Really the only downer from a fantasy perspective was despite that sterling line Weaver was only able to pile up 13 wins due to an awful Angels bullpen and meager offensive production. The Angels and Weaver are hopeful that a bolstered offense and improved bull pen in 2011 will lead to more wins for the club and also for Jered directly.

Lets take a look at how 2011 will shake out for Jered Weaver.

Weaver enters 2011 as the unquestioned Ace of the Angels staff. We outlined how Dan Haren is Ace 1A , but due to longevity and clubhouse protocol, Weaver is the man the Angels will look to to lead the staff in 2011. Jered is turning into the classic example of young pitcher learning how to pitch. His fastball velocity is down from his rookie year yet he posted the highest strikeout rate of his career. This is a direct result of his impressive first strike percentage (62.4%) and improved overall pitch command. The old adage strike 1 is the most important pitch on baseball has never rang more true. If this trend continues in 2011 Weaver should again be an elite fantasy starter drafted early on as a top 10 starter.

The Hangout View: Jered Weaver should again produce elite starter numbers. While he may not lead the majors in strikeouts again he should remain somewhere in the top 5 for K’s. When you couple that with the elite WHIP and ERA totals Weaver is likely to produce you have a bona fide Ace worthy of an early round selection. Look for Weavers strikeouts to dip just a bit as I believe what already looks to be a somewhat shaky Halos bullpen (at least early on) will lead to Weaver pitching to contact more in order to stay in games longer. Remember strikeouts while shiny and pretty usually are accompanied by inflated pitch counts.By staying in games longer Jered is likely to see an increase in a few wins for the season, so the drop off is pretty much a wash. Weaver’s virtually a lock to win more than the 13 games he won in 2010 as the Angels offense should be much improved once fully healthy. When its all said and done, look for Weaver to post the following line.

18 wins , 2.97 ERA , 1.10 WHIP , 216 strikeouts , 238 Innings Pitched