It could just be because I’m a biased East-Coaster, but I feel like the amount of hype that Jered Waver’s gotten this year isn’t at all proportional with his great performance in 2011. Weaver tossed another gem on Thursday night, shutting out the red-hot Rangers over seven innings, out-dueling CJ Wilson, who’s been almost as good as Weaver this year, and keeping the Angels right in the thick of the AL West race, just three games behind the Raners.
That outing dropped Weaver’s ERA to a ridiculously low 1.81 on the season, earning him his 13th win. Since 1990, only four pitchers have had an ERA below 2.00 for a full season. Greg Maddux did it in 1994 and 1995, Pedro Martinez did it in 1997 and 2000, Roger Clements did it in 1990 and 2005, and Kevin Brown did it in 1996. Maddux’s two seasons were the best: in 1994 his ERA was 1.56, in 1995 it was 1.63. Pedro is the only other pitcher on the list below where Weaver is right now; he put up a 1.74 ERA with the Red Sox in 2000 in what was arguably the best performance out of any of these mentioned.
Weaver’s done it by being incredibly consistent this year. He had a four-start stretch in May in which he allowed 14 earned runs. In 11 starts since then, he’s given up just 12 runs over 84 1/3 innings, which makes for an even more impressive 1.28 ERA. He also started out the season on a tear, winning his first six starts with an ERA of 0.99. In fact, if you remove those four bad starts in May, he’s allowed just 17 earned runs in 123 innings, which is a microscopic 1.24 ERA.
Interestingly, Weaver’s having this incredible success despite a drop in his strikeout rate. Last year he struck out more than a batter an inning, topping the AL with 233 Ks in 224 1/3 innings. This year, he’s got 129 Ks in 154 innings, which is more or less right in line with his career rate of 7.8 K/9. What Weaver’s done very impressively this year is keep the ball in the park. Thus far, he’s allowed only five homers, compared to 23 last year. The reason that’s happening is that Weaver’s getting a ton of pop-ups. In 2010, 11.9% of the flyballs Weaver allowed stayed in the infield. This year, it’s a whopping 17.4%.
It’s hard to say whether or not Weaver’s going to be able to keep his ERA under the mythical dividing line a 2.00. A pitcher always needs luck to have an ERA that low, but Weaver’s been flat out dominant this year save one stretch. In the year of Justin Verlander and Roy Halladay, though, Weaver’s quietly going about his job better than anyone.
Also last night: James Shields shut down the Yankees to earn a split for the Rays and keep them on the periphery of the playoff race, Justin Verlander shut down the Twins, and the Cardinals won while the Brewers lost to draw the close NL Central even closer. Last night’s scoreboard here.
Tonight, tonight: The best pitching matchup may be the latest starting game of the night, with Shaun Marcum and Matt Cain facing off in San Francisco. While Milwaukee tries to win out west, the Pirates and Cardinals will be dueling away at PNC Park with Paul Maholm and Chris Carpenter starting the series opener on Friday. Felix Hernandez will start for the Mariners in Boston against the struggling John ‘No Relation’ Lackey, and Cole Hamels starts for the Phillies against the Padres, who will look to parlay their sweep of the Marlins into … something, I guess. Full schedule for Friday’s games is here.
