Second winningest pitcher in LA Angels history roughed up in debut

For the LA Angels a site you could count on each of the last 11 seasons was seeing ol’ #36 Jered Weaver taking the mound at the Big “A”.  Yesterday, Weaver again took the mound, but it was with his new team the San Diego Padres.

On Thursday afternoon, ironically Weaver’s first start ever not in a LA Angels jersey takes place less than 40 miles North of Anaheim at Chavez Ravine against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Weaver got through the first inning with no problems, but in the second inning Weaver’s biggest bug-a-boo, the long ball, reared its ugly head as he gave up a two-run jack to Yasiel Puig to put the Dodgers up 2-0.

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Two innings later Weaver again facing Puig and it was the same result as he gave up another two-run bomb putting the Padres down 4-0.  From there #27 (Weaver’s new number) got through five innings and left trailing 4-2.  Unfortunately Weaver’s new team could get no closer as the Padres bullpen got lit up for six runs in three innings and San Diego lost 10-2.

For Weaver it was not a very auspicious debut with his final line being five innings pitched, four hits, four earned runs with three walks and two strike outs.  Weaver in total threw 82 pitches of which 46 were strikes.  His ERA sits right now at a robust 7.20.  Weaver will pitch again next week Tuesday night in Colorado. Hopefully he will do better than Thursday’s start.

For me it is very tough to see Weaver pitching in another uniform.  He has been a mainstay for the Angels over the past 11 seasons recording 150 victories with the Angels which was good enough for him to move past Nolan Ryan for second on the Angels all-time career victory list.  Weaver’s performance on the field was always superb and he always showed maximum effort until the last two seasons.

In 2015 and 2016 Weaver pitched poorly going 19-24  with  a 4.86 ERA.  Before 2015 Weaver had an ERA under 4 in eight of his first nine seasons and he always had a record over .500 but he went 7-12 and then followed it up with a 12-12 record last season.  It was one of the major reasons the Angels decided not to off Weaver a contract after his ran out at the end of the 2016 season.

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However, to me and many Angel fans where Weaver was more important was in the clubhouse.  Weaver’s leadership has been mentioned by many of the young pitchers such as Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, and Matt Shoemaker who all have benefited from watching Weaver pitch every five days.  His work ethic and preparation were second to none on the Angels staff as was his competitive fire. Unfortunately when your fastball drops from around 92 MPH to 84 MPH it is tough to be as effective.

Weaver had his moments last season when he looked like the Weaver of old.  On June 19th Weaver pitched a complete game shutout against the Oakland A’s giving up only three hits and one walk making 95 pitches to shut down the A’s.

His final victory at Angel Stadium might have been his best performance of the season as Weaver pitched around two solo homers to Adrian Beltre to go 6.2 innings allowing four hits and two runs striking out a season-high eight batters.  His second to last inning Weaver struck out the side and for a moment you saw that Weaver intensity again as he gave up his second homer to Beltre to tie the game at 2, but then he quickly recovered to strike out the final two batters of the inning.

When Weaver came out of the game with a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh the nearly 40,000 fans gave him a thunderous ovation and Weaver acknowledged the crowd with a quick wave of his cap although it looked like he wanted to finish the inning out.

We here at Halo Hangout and I’m sure most Angel fans hope nothing but the best from Weaver for the rest of his career.  You were a true champion and you will be missed.