Luke Weaver, Arizona Diamondbacks
Following a 2017 season in which he posted a 3.88 ERA over 60.1 innings for the St. Louis Cardinals, Weaver appeared to be part of the team’s young rotation heading into the foreseeable future. A year later, he was involved in the trade that netted the Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Life comes at you fast, but the young right-hander has taken full advantage of this fresh start. He’s already accumulated 1.5 fWAR in just 57.1 innings thanks to a 3.14 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, and 5.2% walk rate. It didn’t take him long to eclipse last season’s 1.4 fWAR, which took him 136.1 innings to reach.
The most notable difference in Weaver’s game is a rise in cutter usage — after using it at a 4.8% clip in ’18, that number is currently up at 14.8%. This has likely helped the effectiveness of his changeup, which he’s throwing 25.0% of the time. Opposing hitters are slashing .136/.197/.242 with a 28 wRC+ and 26.8% strikeout rate against that offering, which is a huge improvement from last year (.267/.300/.477 with a 116 wRC+ and 18.8% strikeout rate).
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