Kuzul

With pitchers and catcher reporting to camp, spring training is finally underway. Although some fans might not be excited until the regular season starts, the players are certainly ready to get back on the field and prepare for the upcoming season.

Spring training is often a time for hitters to find their swing, base stealers to condition their legs, and pitchers to find their touch. In addition, often pitchers will try out new pitches during spring training to see if they can add another weapon in their arsenal of pitches.

Here are four pitchers everyone expects big things from this season and who are also trying out new pitches this spring.

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Saturday night, the American League West separation between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels was just two games. Mike Scioscia’s club now controls its destiny and postseason potential.

Here are the five realistic reasons that the Angels will surpass the record of the Rangers to make the 2011 Playoffs.

The battle for the American League West Pennant will not be easily decided. The Rangers are stacked offensively and filled pitching gaps that make them a formidable team. Begin this slideshow to find out why the Angels are up to the Texas-sized challenge.

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The roster I am proposing for this article is not a prediction of what I think the final roster will look like.  History has shown that fan voting and other hidden agendas tend to slightly skew the final roster from what it truly should resemble.  Instead, this will focus on who truly deserves to go to the 2011 MLB All-Star game as of right now.  Why right now?  We are almost halfway to the halfway point of the season, that’s why.  All selection rules will apply (i.e. one player from every team, etc.).

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Jered Weaver‘s Final Line: 9 IP 7 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 10 K 1 GB/FB Ratio

Jered Weaver continued his dominant 2011 campaign with his second consecutive complete game and his first shutout of the season against the struggling Oakland A’s lineup. Weaver lowered his ERA to 0.99, and he has struck out 49 batters in 45.2 innings this season.

Weaver had excellent command last night, throwing 78 strikes out of 114 pitches (a 68 percent strike rate). Most importantly, he threw 75 percent of his offspeed pitches for a strike, including all 20 changeups for a strike and eight out of 10 curveballs for a strike. He also established a first-pitch strike to 65 percent of the hitters faced.

Weaver continued to show a slight increase in velocity. He was averaging 90.2 mph on his fastball coming into the start against the A’s compared to his average of 89.9 mph last season. Last night he averaged 90.8 mph on his fastball while maxing out at 93.7 mph a few times early in the start. He recorded four swinging strikes out of 61 fastballs, and he recorded six of his strikeouts with the pitch.

Weaver recorded a swinging strike percentage of 10 percent overall, and his slider induced five swings and misses with three strikeouts. His changeup induced three swings and misses with one strikeout.

Weaver worked into and out of trouble in the later innings, but his ability to consistently throw strikes and allow only one extra-base hit kept the A’s off the scoreboard. His early-season success has not come from any change in approach. The batted ball numbers are not drastically different from last season, but his strand rate currently sits at 90 percent, and he has benefited from a low .220 BABIP. Even with those numbers, his xFIP sits at 2.97.

The rest of the American League should be wary of the combination of Weaver and Dan Haren, but I still don’t think the Angels have enough in the bullpen and on offense to win this division. However, they will be in contention if both of their front-line starters keep pitching at this level, and Weaver is the early front-runner to be the AL Cy Young winner in 2011.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There have been over 350 brothers to play in Major League Baseball history.

In some of them, the older brother was the better player.  Hank Aaron was easily a better player than Tommie Aaron.  Paul Waner was better than his younger brother Lloyd, but both are in the Hall of Fame.

So, out of all the brothers to play at the major league level, which of the younger brothers were better than their older siblings?

I came up with a list of 20 younger brothers who were better than their older brothers.  Some may surprise you because you may not know they had an older brother in baseball (I know a couple of them surprised me).

This list is not in any particular order, just who I consider the 20 best younger brothers in baseball history when compared to their older brothers.

Let’s start with the active players.

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Every year in baseball, surprising or not, we’re witnesses to unorthodox outbreaks during the first few weeks of America’s pastime.

Quick hitting, hot pitching and all-around great play make-up these specific breakout performances from some of the least expected players.

In 2011, amidst slow and unexpected starts from top-notch players like Albert Pujols, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, Chris Carpenter and Phil Hughes, other positional hitters and pitchers have stepped their game up and earned the recognition.

Realizing that we’ve only seen a short sample of the 2011 baseball season, expectations should be in-check. 

However, due to the blazing starts that some of these players have accumulated, it’s hard not to pay tribute and point out the not so obvious.

With that said, here are the positional players who have out performed the “elite” through the first two weeks of baseball and earned the title, “I can do anything better than you.”

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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.

For continuing coverage of the Los Angeles Angels, follow Doug on Twitter @Sports_A_Holic.

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Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

After establishing himself as a first-half pitcher in each of his first four seasons, Jered Weaver dominated all of 2010, posting career-best totals in innings (224 1/3), K/9 (9.35) and BB/9 (2.17).

In fact, the advanced stats suggest Weaver was a completely different pitcher in 2010. Consider the following:

Strikeout Rate

2008: 7.74
2009: 7.42
2010: 9.35

Walk Rate

2008: 2.75
2009: 2.82
2010: 2.17

ERA

2008: 4.33
2009: 3.75
2010: 3.01

WHIP

2008: 1.28
2009: 1.24
2010: 1.07

Batting Average Against

2008: .253
2009: .241
2010: .220

So what was the difference between last year compared to ‘08 and ‘09? Was it luck? 

Nope.

2010 BABIP: .276 (career .283)
2010 LOB rate: 75.7 percent (career .75.5 percent)
2010 HR/FB rate: 7.8 percent (career 7.9 percent)

Heck, even Weaver’s FIP (3.06) and xFIP (3.51) suggest his 2010 campaign was legit.

There real difference appears to be in the evolution of his fastball and curveball, checking in at 13.0 and 9.7 runs above average, respectively.

When combined with his above-average slider (3.1 runs above average) and changeup (8.4 runs above average), Weaver’s pitching repertoire is one of the most dynamic  in the majors.

This, in turn, led to elite totals in the ‘that’s nasty’ pitching categories:

Contact rate: 75.4 percent (sixth)
Zone contact rate: 79.2 percent (first)
Swinging strike rate: 11.2 percent (fourth)
O-swing rate: 33.5 percent (seventh)

In projecting the 28-year-old Weaver for 2011, it’s difficult to expect him to improve further, so a slight regression could be in the works.

Judging by the advance stats, however, there’s nothing to suggest a regression to his 2008-09 form. Draft with confidence.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: FANTASY BASEBALL INSIDERS

30 Teams in 30 Days Fantasy Preview:

• Baltimore Orioles

Latest from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• 2011 MLB Team-By-Team Spring Training  Injury Report
• Adam Wainwright to Undergo Tommy John Surgery: Updated Pitcher Rankings
• Keeper Conundrum: Bryce Harper or Mike Trout?

Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ 2011 Big Board:

• Top 50 (projections included): Is Pujols Still the Top Pick?
• Nos. 51-60: Jimenez, Verlander, Carpenter or Sabathia?
• No. 61: Carlos Santana
• No. 62: Buster Posey
• No. 63: Kendry Morales
• No. 64: Adrian Beltre
• No. 65: Alexei Ramirez

MLB Trades: Fantasy Impact:

• Frank Francisco Traded to the Blue Jays; Who Will Be The Team’s Closer?
• Mike Napoli Traded to the Texas Rangers: Fantasy Impact
• Vernon Wells Traded to the Los Angeles Angels: Fantasy Impact 

Previous articles from Fantasy Baseball Insiders:

• The Sub-2.50 ERA Curse: Why Five Elite Starting Pitchers May Regress in 2011
• 2010 Batting Average on Balls in Play Leaders: What to Expect in 2011?
• 2011 Closer’s Corner: Papelbon, Cordero & Rivera Are the Only Reliable Options

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, an old fisherman goes 84 days without catching any fish. On the 85th day, he ventures further than he’s ever gone and snags the big one, an 18 foot marlin. Trying to bring his catch in, sharks begin to pick at the Marlin and by the time the old man returns to the village, only the skeleton of the fish remains.

In many way, the Los Angeles Angels are like the old man. Two years ago, they tried to re-sign first baseman Mark Teixeira, only to be outbid by the New York Yankees. This offseason, they eyed Tampa Bay Rays speedster Carl Crawford, only to once again be outbid, this time by the Boston Red Sox.

To make up for not landing their “marlin”, they have instead countered by landing smaller fish in the sea, which have included the likes of outfielders Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells, and pitchers Dan Haren, Joel Pineiro and Scott Kazmir.

For all intent purposes however, the Angels already may have the biggest fish in the sea in Mike Trout, MLB.com’s No. 1 rated prospect in baseball. Trout is considered to be a five tool baseball player and has even drawn comparisons to Mickey Mantle himself.  

Although the Angels lost out on Crawford, they traded for Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells, who last season hit 31 home runs with 88 RBI. Wells was acquired in exchange for catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera.

When healthy, the Angels have more than enough firepower at both the plate and mound to overthrow the Texas Rangers and hold off the upstart Oakland Athletics.

The Rangers lost their best pitcher Cliff Lee to Philadelphia, and outside of C.J. Wilson, the Rangers pitching staff isn’t really impressive, at least on paper. The Athletics, on the other hand, may have the best pitching staff in the American League West, but they lack offense.

Of the entire AL West, the Angels offer the best balance at both the mound and plate. Jered Weaver lead the league last season in strikeouts, Ervin Santana lead the team in wins with 17 and Dan Haren dropped his ERA by almost two full points when he left Arizona, from 4.60 to 2.87.

Kendry Morales, who broke his leg after a walk-off grand slam back in May, is expected to return to the lineup this season. Morales and his offensive outburst from 2009, which included 34 HRs, 108 RBI and a .306 batting average, were missed in last season’s downfall that saw the Angels finish in third place.

In the end, what may determine the AL West will not be who landed the biggest fish in the offseason, but rather, who stays healthy and is consistent throughout the season. If all the parts and pieces that the Angels have put together over the last couple of seasons can stay healthy and play consistent baseball, the Angels may do what they’ve done three times in the last five seasons, win the AL West.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s official—the 2011 Major League Baseball season is right around the corner. Don’t believe me? Just ask the groundhog. Or maybe the fact that the next edition of Major League Baseball video games are primed for release will convince you. No?  Ok, the Super Bowl is over and so is another season of the National Football League. Pitchers and catchers have reported for Spring Training. Yes, the 2011 season is swiftly approaching.

With nearly all of 2011’s top free agents signed, it’s time to evaluate how all 30 big league teams did this offseason, and predict where they will finish in their respective divisions in this rendition of MLB 2011 Predictions. Concluding now with the American League.

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