Jered Weaver Is Los Angeles Angels' Key To Success In 2016

The Los Angeles Angels have a done a poor job surrounding Mike Trout with talent, but he keeps producing. The Angels have a decent set of DH/first basemen type players, but after that the offense goes down quickly. They aren’t going to be able to do much about that at this point. Instead, the pressure falls on the pitching staff to keep the Angels in games.

In 2011, Jered Weaver looked like an ace pitcher ready to dominate the league for years. Since that time he has slowly backed down to a level of mediocrity. But fear not, Angels fans, as he is the key to the team’s success and there is cause for hope!

Weaver has consistently had a high percentage of ground-ball outs. Last season the Angels had David Freese and Erick Aybar on the left side of the infield. Entering the 2016 season, they have been replaced by Yunel Escobar and Andrelton Simmons. Simmons alone will save the pitchers 20-plus runs over Aybar.

Then there is the matter of how the batters are actually doing against Weaver. In each of the last three seasons, Weaver has allowed a BABIP of between .268-.275. The previous two seasons he held them below .255. Going forward, if Weaver is healthy, the expectation should be between .255-.265. That change alone should drop Weaver’s WHIP to below 1.2 and his ERA to under 3.5. With those changes, Weaver becomes an asset in the rotation.

The Angels have done a poor job supporting Trout over the past several years. This season that support must come from the pitching rotation. For the Angels to be successful, Weaver must have a rebound year in 2016.