Colorado @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Mar 20, 2010 ) LA Angels 10, Colorado 11
The rumblings about Jered Weaver making a run at his first Cy Young Award have started.
Whether the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim right-hander fulfills such predictions is anyone’s guess, but if Weaver continues to pitch the way he has for almost three months, he will be among the front-runners for the award.
Weaver made a huge splash when he was first called up to the majors in 2006, going 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA down the stretch and is pitching at that level again. He was very good in the years between, but the 27-year-old has been among the American League’s premier pitchers thus far.
He is 7-3 with a 3.04 ERA with an AL-best 107 strikeouts and just 23 walks. Weaver’s WHIP of 1.11 (seventh-best in AL) is his best since that initial campaign back in ’06.
What makes Weaver so difficult his herky-jerky delivery that is all elbows, knees and an odd arm slot. He throws a heavy ball that is always low in the strike zone.
The three-time defending AL West champion Angels are trailing the Texas Rangers by 4 ½ games so Weaver needs to continue to pitch at a high level if Los Angeles is going to win the division title for the sixth time in seven years.
He will look to keep it rolling Friday when the Angels open a three-game interleague series with Colorado at Angel Stadium.
Weaver will be opposed by left-hander Jeff Francis, who his making his eighth start since overcoming shoulder soreness that forced him to miss a good portion of spring training after sitting out all of the 2009 season after shoulder surgery.
His return, along with the recent return of reliever and eventual closer Houston Street, has folks in Colorado believing there is another second-half surge ahead. The Rockies are going to need to one considering they are in fourth place in the National League West, although they are just four games behind first-place San Diego.
Francis has been solid in his return to the rotation, going 2-2 with a 3.43 ERA, but he is never going to be anyone that overpowers the opposition. Francis followed up his 17-win season in 2007 with just four wins in 24 starts before going on the disabled list in 2008.
The more important return to health for the Rockies is probably Street, as fill-in closer Manuel Corpas has started to struggle. They are bringing Street back slowly, but with Corpas giving up nine runs in his last four outings, it might expedite the transition of Street back to his familiar closer.
Street took the defeat in the loss to Boston on Thursday, giving up a go-ahead two-run homer in the 10th inning. The right-hander’s debut went much smoother when he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday.