Jered Weaver was informed Sunday morning that he will start the All Star Game on Tuesday night for the American League squad. The official announcement won't be made until Monday which leaves plenty of time for Weaver to back out. With the recent rash of replacements, I think the only Major League pitcher who hasn't been on the All Start roster yet is Kyle Davies. But I hope Weav sticks with it as he'll be just the fifth Angels pitcher to start an ASG and the first since Mark Langston in 1993.Weaver deserves it too whether you want to look at box score stats or advanced metrics. In the AL, he's first in ERA (1.86), second in wins (11), second in innings (140.1) and fifth in strikeouts (120). Plus he's first in FIP (2.39), tERA (2.36) and WAR (4.7). Sure, I cherry picked those stats but Weaver is still having a phenomenal season. Even with some regression from career bests in LOB% (81.2) and HR/FB% (2.7!), Weaver is still well on his way to topping his career high 5.9 WAR from last year. He can also expect a nice bump in salary as he heads into his last season of arbitration. That's a frightening post for another time though.
Weaver and manager Mike Scioscia are prohibited from discussing the announcement until it is actually, well, announced. But Weav was asked about it after his last start...
Asked after Thursday night's win about the possibility of starting the All-Star game, Weaver said, "It would be very cool. I’ve grown up seeing Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens, guys like that, in those situations. To be able to start would be very gratifying.”Sorry, I dozed off during that quote. I get sleepy reading cookie cutter answers to questions even if it's from my favorite players. I don't know what I was expecting him to say. MLB and management seem to frown upon athletes saying "F*ck yeah, bro, that'd be the tits" on live broadcasts or to media outlets. Maybe that's why I'm so fond of Ozzie Guillen and his broken English tirades.
Either way, congrats Jered. You deserve it.
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