Coming into Spring Training, the Halos are faced with one of their biggest tasks in recent years: Tapping the new ace of the pitching staff.
And for most talking heads, the choice seems to be last season’s 16-game winner Jered Weaver.
When it comes to the tall and lanky righty, there’s a lot to like. Aside from the ’08 campaign, his ERA’s always been under four and he’s posted double-digit winning seasons since he won his first nine games as a rookie in ’06. Coupled with the 200+ innings he threw last season, he’s easily the rock of our rotation.
But the one rebuttal I’ve heard is that Weaver won’t be able to fill the void of John Lackey, our fearless, bulldog’d leader of years past who was always willing to take the ball on 3-4 days.
But you know what? I firmly disagree.
Last season was huge for Weave. Despite Big John’s injury, Ervin Santana’s peaks and valleys, Joe Saunders’ dead arm, the revolving door that was our #5 starter, and Scott Kazmir’s late season yawn, there was J-Weave — standing 6’7″ atop the dirt hill of the infield, every fifth day, with the most ridiculous haircut in Angel history. AND, he even managed to buzz off those blond locks without effecting his delivery! [Hey, it could've effected his balance.]
And if you’re looking for the fire within, just look into the rear view of his career. Plenty of times, I can recall watching him yell four letter words into his glove as he stalked back to the dugout after a bad inning; less than amused with his performance in the half frame. Although he’s toned it down over the years, you know he’s got a lot of fight in him.
Plus, even though he isn’t known as a big rah-rah guy, he doesn’t have to be. That’s what guys like Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu are for: Vets who can add some laughter, some fightin’ words, or whatever the mood calls for in the locker room.
If we just sit back and let Weave do his thing, he’s going to be fine. Heck, we’ll probably be looking back at ourselves at year’s end, wondering why we wasted our words on the Spring Training battle for team ace.
Because in truth, with his continued performance throughout the years, Jered Weaver has already proven that he is the rightful heir to the Halos’ pitching throne.
Time for him to shut up the critics as he shuts down the opposing teams.
