Jered Weaver Finishes Third In Cy Young Voting

Jered Weaver didn’t get the reward Angels fans wanted. Weaver finished third in the AL Cy Young Award balloting with 70 points, behind Justin Verlander and the winner of the award David Price. Weaver was only second on two ballots and didn’t receive a single first place vote. In fact Fernando Rodney, who finished well behind Weaver, was the only pitcher besides Price and Verlander to receive a first place vote.

Aug 22, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher

(36) reacts during the seventh inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

I think what really hurt Weaver was the fact that he missed time during the season and the other two didn’t. Weaver missed a little over a month between May 28 until June 20^th with a back injury. Weaver only threw 188.2 innings which was 20^th in the American League. Verlander led the league with 238.1 innings and Price was eighth with 211.Strikeouts get a lot of attention too, and the fact that Weaver isn’t a strikeout pitcher may have also hurt him as well. Verlander led MLB in strikeouts with 239. Price was 11^th with 205. Weaver was 62^nd with 142. Guys like Luke Hochevar, Joe Blanton and Chris Capuano had more strikeouts than Weaver.

Weaver proved this year that he’s definitely among the game’s best starting pitchers. The Angels signed him for a very team friendly contract and will reap the rewards as his career moves forward. It wouldn’t shock me to see the same three pitchers nominated for the Cy Young Award next year. Who knows, maybe next year it’s Weaver winning it instead.