Jered Weaver 2009

Two years ago, after putting up an earned run average of 2.56, Jered Weaver was considered by many to be a star pitcher and one of the better pitchers in the American League. However, after ERAs of 3.91 and 4.33 the past two years, his stock has fallen drastically, and he is now viewed by most as a very average pitcher. The remarkable thing is that he is almost the exact same pitcher he always was! After his extremely lucky 2006, Weaver was one of the most overrated players in baseball. Now he may be slightly underrated. Weaver is one of the most extreme flyball pitchers in baseball, having groundball rates between 30% and 36% all three seasons he's pitched in the majors. He makes up for that to some extent by having a decent strikeout rate (2008 K/9: 7.9) and pretty good control (2008 BB/9: 2.8). At 26 years old, he's still likely to improve a little. I would expect something a similar strikeout rate in 2009, with slightly better control.