Luke Weaver

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Luke Allen Weaver

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Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Luke Weaver was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 19th round of the 2011 amateur draft but did not sign, opting to attend Florida State University instead. He was then taken by the St. Louis Cardinals and scout Ty Boyles in the first round of the 2014 amateur draft with the 27th overall pick. He signed for $1.843 million and made his pro debut that summer with the GCL Cardinals.

He first made it to the majors late in the 2016 season and went 1-4, 5.79 in 9 games. He had a good half-season in the majors in 2017, with a 7-2 record and a 3.88 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) and 60 1/3 innings. This gave the Cardinals hope that he would be one of their top starting pitchers in 2018, but he regressed, as his ERA rose to 4.95 in 30 games, and his record was 7-11. He gave up 150 hits in 136 1/3 innings, but did strike out 121 batters. After the season, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks alongside fellow youngsters Carson Kelly and Andy Young and a Compensation Round B pick in the 2019 amateur draft in return for 1B Paul Goldschmidt.

Luke thrived on the D-Backs, as he improved dramatically. He had a rough first start to the season, where he gave four runs in only four innings on March 31st to the Dodgers, but he settled down and posted a 4-3 record with a 2.64 ERA in his next 10 starts. His changeup was his best pitch, as batters hit only .169 on it. His fastball was a good pitch too, limiting batters to a .239 average. Unfortunately, this success would not be sustained, as during the sixth inning on May 26th in a game against the Giants, Weaver felt something in his arm. He was taken out of the game and was placed on the injured list with right forearm tightness, casting the rest of his season in doubt. However, he would make another start with the D-Backs near the end of the season on September 21st, throwing two innings against the Padres.

Just like in 2018, the D-backs were expecting big things from Weaver in 2020. The team expected him to be the fourth starter, sliding in between Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. However, just like most of the D-Backs, Weaver underperformed, putting up an abysmal 1-9 record with a terrible 6.58 ERA in twelve starts. Weaver could pitch deep in his starts, as he could never go past 6 innings. He also had a problem limiting the long ball, hitters hit 10 in only 12 starts. However, his stuff was still there, fanning 55 batters in 52 innings.

2021 was more friendly to Weaver, as through his first 8 starts he had a 2-3 record with a more respectable 4.50 ERA. On May 16th, he was pulled from his start against the Washington Nationals early due to pain in his right shoulder, two days later on May 18th he was put on the injured list with a right shoulder strain. He only returned on September 1st and went 1-3 the rest of the way to finish at 3-6, 4.25 in 13 starts. In 2022, he began the season in the D-Backs' bullpen, going 1-1, 7.71 in 12 games. On August 1st, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in return for OF Emmanuel Rivera. On September 25th, he was involved in a bizarre incident before a game against the Seattle Mariners as he got into an epic staredown context with former teammate Robbie Ray, now with the Mariners. The two refused to leave their position outside their respective dugouts when the performance of the National Anthem ended, and continued staring at one another while Royals starting pitcher Max Castillo started his warm-up tosses. When home plate umpire Adrian Johnson tried to wave them off, they still would not budge, and wanting to get the game going, Johnson just ejected both of them. Weaver actually blinked first, and his ejection was more costly as Ray, being a starting pitcher, was never going to pitch in the game anyway, which was not Weaver's case. In any case, the game turned out to be an epic one, with Kansas City erasing a nine-run deficit to win, 13-12.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Ronald Blum (The Associated Press): "Luke Weaver becomes Yankees closer after getting cut by Reds and Mariners", Yahoo! Sports, October 2, 2024. [1]
  • Bryan Hoch: "Weaver ready for high-leverage role in playoffs after dominant September", mlb.com, October 2, 2024. [2]
  • Anne Rogers: "Anthem standoff goes awry as Weaver, Ray get tossed", mlb.com, September 25, 2022. [3]

Related Sites[edit]

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