Baseball BeatApril 20, 2004
All Aboard the Dream Weaver Train
By Rich Lederer

Jered Weaver is the subject of a feature article in USA TODAY.

Writer David Leon Moore compares Weaver to Mark Prior as I did last month in Richard's Prior.

His stats are astounding, similar to what another big right-hander, Mark Prior, did at Southern California in his junior season in 2001, when he was 15-1 with a 1.69 ERA. That June, Prior was picked No. 2 overall by the Chicago Cubs; last year, he was 18-6 for the Cubs and finished third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

  • Weaver, heading into his next start Friday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has struck out 118 hitters and walked just 11 in 80 2/3 innings, a 10.7-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Prior's was 11.2-to-1.

  • Weaver's opponents are batting .146 against him. Prior's opponents hit .201.

  • Weaver has won Collegiate Baseball national pitcher of the week honors five times, a record two more times than Prior won the award in 2001.

    • Moore points out that Weaver pitched his latest gem (a complete-game shutout last Friday night against UC Irvine, beating another undefeated pitcher and pro prospect--righthander Brett Smith--in the process) under the watchful eyes of high-powered baseball agent Scott Boras and Padres scouting director Bill "Chief" Gayton. Boras is expected to be Weaver's agent and the Padres have the number one pick in the upcoming draft.

    Note: Thanks to Darren Viola (aka Repoz) at Baseball Primer's Clutch Hits for pointing me in the direction of this article.

    Comments

    I believe you are the conductor of the "Dream Weaver Train"....

    Posted by: AgRyan04 at April 21, 2004 10:57 AM