There are a number of terrific pitchers in the American League who have garnered much attention in recent years.
Last season, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners was the top dog, earning the AL CY Young award in spite of a 13-12 record. The year before, the honor went to Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke, who posted a 16-8 record and won it in a landslide over last year’s winner, Hernandez.
Other pitchers have gained accolades in recent years, but one pitcher has consistently flown under the radar when it comes to talking about the elite pitchers in the American League: Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver.
Last season, Weaver’s numbers were eerily similar to those of Hernandez. Both finished with a 13-12 record, both pitchers had exactly 34 starts, both had almost the exact same number of strikeouts, with Weaver just edging Hernandez for the AL lead, 233-232. And both had WHIPs under 1.10 (Hernandez 1.057, Weaver 1.074).
Both pitchers also shined for teams that were woeful offensively. The Mariners scored the lowest amount of runs for a team in a single season since the advent of the designated hitter in 1973, while the Angels scored a full 202 runs fewer than the previous season.
Yet, King Felix reigns supreme when it comes to the discussion of the best pitchers in the American League, while Weaver, who has compiled a 64-39 record with a 3.55 earned run average in five seasons, quietly goes about the business of great pitching without the accolades.
Bleacher Report will look into possible reasons as to why Jered Weaver appears to not gain a whole lot of respect outside of the Los Angeles area, and whether or not there is a conspiracy theory in effect.
Well, no, my name is NOT Oliver Stone, so we’ll just forget that last part.
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