For the sixth straight year, we’re taking a look back at everyone that played for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Whether they were a major contributor or a bit player, here all year or for just a little while, we’ll look at their season and talk about what went right and what went wrong. The stat line listed is just their time in St. Louis, though splits and other numbers in the discussion may be for the entire year. Imagine this as them stopping by Mike Matheny‘s office for a little review on their way home for the winter. As always when you see incredible artistry in the blogs, all credit for the header work goes to @cardinalsgifs.
Player: Luke Weaver
Season stats: 7-2, 3.88 ERA, 13 games, 60.1 IP, 59 H, 17 BB, 72 K, 1.260 WHIP, 3.17 FIP, 0.8 bWAR
Hero/Goat: Hero 2, Goat 3
Overall grade: B
Positives: Struck out over a batter an inning in the big leagues….after moving into the rotation at the end of August, ran off six starts with a 1.49 ERA and 49 K in 39.1 innings….lefties hit .210 against him….had a 2.77 ERA on the road….had a 1.71 ERA in August….had a .187 BAA when ahead in the count….with nobody out, batters hit .213….had a .556 OPS against in medium leverage situations….first time through the order, batters hit .212…..had a 1.80 ERA with five days’ rest….had a 1.64 ERA against the Reds….went 10-2 with a 2.55 ERA in Memphis.
Negatives: Had a 16.43 ERA over his last two outings….righties had a .793 OPS against him….had a 5.17 ERA in September….batters hit .450 on the first pitch….batters hit .339 with a 1.080 OPS when they were ahead in the count….batters had a .303/.369/.461 line with two outs….had an .857 OPS against with runners in scoring position….the line was .304/.360/.522 with two outs and RISP….batters had a .969 OPS in high leverage situations….batters hit .625 (5-8) after pitch 100….had a 5.40 ERA in three starts against the Brewers.
Overview: Weaver’s stock soared this season. Already a pretty highly thought of prospect, coming in down the stretch and stabilizing the rotation was a huge bonus. Couple that with a good season at Memphis and you can see why he would seem to be a lock for a major league job for 2018. When you talk about the young arms the Cardinals have coming, Weaver is always close to the top of the list and was a definite ray of hope at the end of a muddled season. Obviously, he still has things to work on as those late starts proved but there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to this young man.
Outlook: The question of course is where will that big league job be? He could easily be wearing the birds on the bat, but with so many trading partners looking for pitching when the club is looking for an impact bat, it’s not a stretch to think that he’ll be part of a deal that brings that offense into St. Louis. Whatever the case, he should be in the back of a rotation in 2018 and it will be very interesting to see how he develops wherever he is.
