Is there a pitcher in baseball who throws slower than weaver?

[Angel Oracle]

Concerned, but it's only been some 6-7 starts that he's made so far in 2013. It could be different things: out of sync from missing nearly 2 months for first time in career, or maybe just one of those seasons, or maybe an issue with the shoulder/elbow.

He's more than earned the benefit of the doubt, and unlike with Haren, we didn't give up a lot of talent to sign him.

Now if this continues through most of 2014, then it's cause for alarm. His career innings pitched isn't that high.

[markb]

Colin Kaepernick...

Nevermind, Kaep was clocked in at 87 mph when he threw out the first pitch at the Giants game.

49ers QB throws a better fastball than Weaver.

Wake up DiPoto

 

 

To be fair, Kaep threw mid 90's in high school.  It's not like he just picked up a baseball for the first time in his life.  

 

I made a comment about feeling good early in the gameday thread last night about Weaver hitting 90, but then he proceeded to hover back down at 85-86 the remainder of the game.  Does that mean he's not throwing full out most of the time due to some lingering physical discomfort?   Who knows.   

 

I think he can still be effective, even at this velocity, because his game has always been about deception.  He's just the mirrored version of a "crafty lefty."   But he was missing his spots badly last night, throwing it right down the middle at times when Conger was set up on a corner.

[Mark68]

Jeff Francis, maybe?

 

But then, the Rockies just demoted him.

[gotbeer]

Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman says hi.

[SmallSampleSize]

To all of you concerned folks in this thread...

 

...you should be.   This doesn't just "happen" to a pitcher.

 

Can he still be effective?  Of course.  

 

 

 

I only know what his numbers tell me. 

 

So yeah, I'm concerned too.

[Ray McKigney]

Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman says hi.

 

I was going to post the same thing. It's not about velocity with Weaver, it's about location.

[Tyler]

It's also about movement. Weaver's fastball is straight as hell. All of Maddux's pitches had movement. Hopefully he can figure out some grips in the offseason.

[Angel Oracle]

Weaver has always had great movement, until 2013.

Hopefully it is just a temp thing.

[Hoops McCann]

give him some time...he was out a few months and still building arm strength.

 

Doc Halo hit it on the head, IMO.  The issue isnt velocity...his issue has been location.  His location has been poor.  Usually middle-in..that is not the location a SP needs for success, unless he's throwing in the high 90s.

[Lifetime]

location and movement. neither has been sharp. but you're right (and doc), give him time to get back in the groove again. there's mileage left on those tires.

[Angels]

I don't know. You can get away with more mistakes when your velocity is up. He used to be able to blow by people at 89-90 just above the belt. Now the batters sit on everything soft and pounce on those 85 mph high ones.

 

This.

 

The slower he throws, the less margin for error he has. His "mistake" (and even "non-mistake") pitches are going to get crushed a lot more often than they used to. Unless he rediscovers his old velocity, we will not be seeing the Weaver of old.

 

It's bizarre to see a supposedly healthy player in what is still supposed to be the prime of his career experience such a huge decrease in velocity to the point where his fastball averages 86 mph.

[ten ocho recon scout]

After today's news about Vargas, that little flicker of hope is way gone. With Big Game Weave's very friendly contract, he might fetch a nice booty...he needs to mix in another gem or 2 to signal he's ok, not sure if it's in there anymore. Lest we forget, his big baby bro had a swift decline from studly.

So what you're saying is, weavers 85 million contract might get some booty? I agree.

[dimitrig]

Rockpile.

[Mark68]

Here's the thing: If his velo is truly down, and for good, then it's time to work on taking a little something more off the changeup. Right now, there isn't much difference between the velocities of his "fastball" and his "changeup".

[tdawg87]

Dude is 6 foot 7. Give him a brownie and he'll add a couple MPH to his fastball.

[Ohtaniland]

Could it be arm fatigue? Jered has thrown an average of 199 innings the past 6 seasons. His brother Jeff suffered from arm fatigue at age 30 and they have similar pitching mechanics. I hope Jered is ok because he's one of the good guys in baseball.

[mulwin444]

What was his average fastball hitting today?  Genuinely curious, since I'm at work.

 

6k's...were they on fastballs?  Offspeed? 

 

How did he look today?

[markb]

He was still sitting mid 80's most of the game.  The K's came on a mix of pitches - caught one looking on an inside 2-seamer, Fielder chased a high fastball, one was a breaking ball in the dirt.  

 

HIs last 2 K's in the 7th were the most telling imo.  Peralta was so fooled by a changeup that tailed into him that he looked like he was swatting a bee on a pitch that nearly hit him.  Dirks was late on an 85 mph fastball because it was setup by a good 74 mph changeup.  

 

Mark68 mentioned above that something needed to come off his changeup, and I think we saw that today.  The 8-10 mph differential was there and guys were looking fooled.  I think his margin for error has shrunk considerably at this velocity, but today proved he can still be effective against one of the best lineups in baseball.  

[Angel Oracle]

85 vs 74 is still a good fastball/change differential, especially if you have movement on those pitches.

[Ohtaniland]

I stayed up to watch Clayton Kershaw pitch last night. He threw three competely different pitches at 95 MPH / 85 MPH / 72 MPH.

Kershaw is pretty amazing. Jered Weaver relies more on his deception and he looked very good today.  

[Docwaukee]

with his deception and length, his 88-90 was more like 92-94 to the hitter in terms of time to react. 

 

now it's down to the equivalent of 89-91.  Still effective, but I do agree that the margin for error has decreased.  We'll see this when he doesn't have his best control in the form of a blowup game. 

[Hoops McCann]

Anyone remember the human rain delay known as Steve Trachsel.