Maybe to the casual fan, spring training is no big deal, that it ranks right up there with blowing a couple of bucks on a late-night chocolate malt.
But ask prospect right-hander Luke Weaver about spring training 2016, because it was anything but ho-hum. You see, he got an invite to the St. Louis Cardinals’ big-league camp, got to talking to none other than Adam Wainwright and walked out of there with a new pitch, the cutter.
Incredible story, really. The pitch — which he had never before thrown – now could well be Weaver’s meal ticket to the big leagues.
Which would seem like a major overstatement. But have you seen this dude pitch? Only three weeks into his time with the Springfield Cardinals and he’s already a summer box-office draw, having mowed through the Double-A Texas League and built locomotive-like momentum for a run to St. Louis.
“I’m not really sure what happened out there, but I’ll take it,” Weaver was saying after his Double-A debut a couple of weeks back.
What happened that night and in his three starts since has, oh, only excited everybody who follows the Cardinals’ farm closely. After all, Weaver is two years removed from selection as a first-round draft pick and – more notable – was a mere, mid-week starting pitcher for Florida State as recently as four years ago.
In other words, hype has given way to results, and fans in the Ozarks can get another look at Weaver on Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field.
“They expect you to go out there and perform. It’s one of those things, when you get to this level, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. You go out there expecting to do well, and when you do, it’s just a compliment to the work you put into it,” Weaver said. “It’s just nice to get in with this team and create some of those bonds that were created a year ago (in Class A ball).”
Those words come as the right-hander has buzzed in a fastball in the mid to upper 90s (mph) and torn through four starts by, let’s see … striking out a whopping 29 in 26 1/3 innings and being pretty stubborn. He has permitted only three walks and built a miniscule and outstanding earned run average (1.37) and 3-0 record.
In his debut, he struck out 10 and pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, never walking a soul. That was June 5. Then, 11 days later in his third start, he yielded only one run in eight innings.
It makes you wonder what April and May would have been produced had Weaver not suffered a wrist injury on his non-pitching hand during spring training and relocated to the disabled list.
Fortunately, before the injury, he picked Wainwright’s brain. The cutter is a pitch that fools hitters by running away from right-handed batters and into left-handed hitters, and looks very much like a fastball coming out of the hand.
“In spring training, a lot of those guys throw that pitch (the cutter). Wainwright is a guy who sticks out. He was talking to me and (Trey) Nielsen, and we were soaking up what he had to say,” Weaver said. “At the time, I didn’t really get into it too much.
“But it’s something I played with. It felt weird. But like any pitch, it’s something that you throw it enough to get comfortable. Then one day it clicked in extended spring.”
Interesting journey
Should Weaver ride that pitch – and his four-seam fastball, change-up and curveball – to the big leagues, it will have completed an interesting journey.
A Florida native, Weaver did the usual travel ball circuit in high school, but was primarily a shortstop. Eventually, he signed with tradition-rich Florida State.
The Seminoles, however, moved him to the pitching staff full-time, and Weaver handled mid-week games during his freshman year and at the start of his sophomore year. But by the end of his sophomore year, he had jumped all the way to the role of Friday night starter – quite an accomplishment in any college league but especially the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In a regional, he “had the best game of my life,” in striking out 14 in eight innings. He allowed only three hits in front of a packed house.
“That sophomore year, when I got into the Friday night role, I didn’t think about much. I just threw the baseball. I was just consistently having success,” Weaver said, later adding of his postseason regional performance, “Just kind of in that moment, everything came together and opened a lot of doors for me.”
The road ahead
Who knows if Weaver will be here or in Triple-A Memphis when Springfield – winners of the Texas League North’s first half – plays in the September playoffs.
But he certainly will take advantage of the situation at present, as Springfield’s coaching staff includes a pair of former big-leaguers in manager Dann Bilardello and pitching coach Jason Simontacchi – with Bilardello a catcher and Simontacchi a right-handed pitcher back in the day.
“I’m excited about him,” Simontacchi said, and for good reason.
While Weaver has a somewhat across-the-body delivery and has been known as a flyball pitcher – the Cardinals historically preach heavy two-seam fastballs and groundball outs – Simontacchi is optimistic that Weaver will learn much in these next few months beyond just throwing pitchers.
Some of that learning will be from what Simontacchi doesn’t say. In the Texas League, home to a pair of four-team divisions, the days can be brutal. Not because of the heat, necessarily. But because it becomes Groundhog Day. Teams face each other regularly.
“As you climb the ladder, there are things you need to experience yourself,” Simontacchi said. “What he has to realize is he’s going to see these guys over and over again (in the North Division).
You know, the mind can be a friend or foe. Some guys think, ‘I’ve seen these guys three or four times, so I need to do something different.’ Instead, make the hitters make the adjustments.”
Simontacchi also hopes Weaver incorporates his curveball more often, given his fastball really jumps on hitters. His change-up also has been effective. But the curveball is that extra pitch for batters to think about.
In the meantime, Weaver hopes to enjoy the ride. He was a preseason No. 4 among Baseball America’s Top 30 prospects, and two years ago signed for more than $1.8 million, according to BA. But the hype is one thing. The results have to be another, he said.
And he could. He could cut through Double-A with that cutter.
“I don’t think anyone has ever been perfect with what they do on the baseball field. (To grow), it’s continuing each and every day to master the mechanics and know what it feels like without ever having to think out there,” Weaver said. “You create those flow states where you just get up there and let it rip. Thinking less is big in this game. It can eat you alive.”
These days, he’s eating the Texas League alive.
