Is Jered Weaver the Best Pitcher in Baseball (4/81)

I feel like we're going to be asking this question all season: Is Jered Weaver the best pitcher in baseball? The answer is, "almost."



Jered Weaver got the 1,000th strikeout of his career tonight as the Angels blanked the Oakland Athletics 6-0. With his strikeout in the sixth inning, Weaver, 29, becomes the eighth player in franchise history to have at least 1,000 strikeouts, and, combined with his older brother, Jeff, became the sixth set of siblings to have 1,000 strikeouts.

Along with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander, and Clayton Kershaw, Weaver is among the top 5 pitchers in baseball right now. Many would debate this and say Weaver is not even the best pitcher on his own team, much less all of baseball. Improvement tells the story.

In 2009, Weaver pitched good, but not great. In 211 innings, Weaver had a 3.75 ERA and struck out just 174. The next year, Weaver got control of his fastball and posted a 3.01 ERA with a whopping 233 strikeouts. Last year, 2011, Weaver upped his game to the next level by becoming a workhorse as well as a smarter pitcher. He lowered his walks per nine innings, lowered his hits per nine innings, had 198 strikeouts and a career-best 2.41 ERA in a career-high 235.2 innings. He continues to get better.

Tonight Weaver went 6 and two-thirds innings, striking out 6 while walking only one. He dominated an Oakland A's lineup that, quite frankly, is in the lower echelon of hitting, but it was important because he made a great rebound from his previous start against the Twins.

Weaver is the most competitive player the Angels have on their roster and will continue to improve. It's his Cy Young Award to lose this year because there's no way Verlander, the next best pitcher in the AL, matches his crazy numbers from last year, even with an improved offense.

One-Liners

Congrats to Kendrys Morales for smacking his first home run since 2010 tonight and successfully NOT breaking his leg on home plate as he finished his trot.

Can't blame Vernon Wells for not getting into a hitting rhythm when Mike Scioscia can't even pick a steady lineup, but he better take swimming lessons soon because he's about to get lapped by a Trout.

It's bad enough that Mike Scioscia can't pick a consistent lineup; it's worse that I agree with YANKEES coach Joe Giradi.