(Busch Stadium) Today’s recall of pitcher Luke Weaver by the St. Louis Cardinals is more than just swapping out a fresh arm after Mike Mayers threw 3.0 innings yesterday, it’s also a signal of a change of how Mike Matheny plans to use his bullpen.
“He’ll be in the ‘pen,” said Matheny. “I don’t foresee and part of the conversation is, we don’t want to take him out of the Triple-A rotation to just sit down there and be an emergency back-up guy. I plan on pitching him and throwing him into situations where we feel he can help us out. Kind of see how it plays out once he gets his opportunity.”
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That is a shift in philosophy as Matheny has preferred to have a “long guy” in the bullpen. The Cardinals would now need to patch together a game that required significant bullpen innings.
In 11 starts this season at Memphis, Weaver was 7-1 with a 1.93 ERA and had allowed just 19 walks with 60 strikeouts in 56.0 innings pitched. Had he not been sidelined with back stiffness for 12 days in June, the 23-year old may have been recalled earlier this season.
“It’s just something that obviously popped up in Spring Training,” said Weaver of the lumbar issue. “Maybe slipped up on not doing enough to keep it in check. Out of nowhere it popped back up. It’s been great now, but making sure that I’ve got a steady routine every day to come back and make sure it’s strong to where it never happens again.”
As for the transition from starting to the bullpen–and especially getting ready to pitch quickly, there’s not much worry from Weaver.
“I think as a starter, you just get more time,” he said. “A lot of that time might be wasted just because when you go to the ‘pen, you see how quick you can get warmed up and it kind of makes you laugh. They’re two different styles and the adrenaline’s pumping out there when you get called. Adrenaline plays a big role.”
“He’s got a great fastball,” said Matheny. “He’s got good movement and he’s good velocity, stays in the bottom of the zone. The troubles he’s had in the past here is really just picking too much where he didn’t trust his stuff. Trying to be so fine and perfect every pitch, that he was all of a sudden working really deep in tough counts.”
photo credit: Bill Greenblatt/UPI
