It’s a shame that the hitters couldn’t get anything going last night against Tom Glavine, because Jeff Weaver was nails the whole night, save for one pitch.
Yadier Molina had set up away, and Weaver instead put it middle-in. Carlos Beltran then punished Weaver for the one mistake he made in six solid innings of work.
I don’t know how trustworthy the network radar guns are, but Fox was showing Weaver consistently hitting 93-94 mph with his fastball. He also was spotting his breaking ball welll, although I will grant that the strike zone was fluid throughout the evening.
In all, a fantastic outing from Weaves. He seems to be making a habit of those, evidenced by his start in the NLDS and his last three regular-season starts. The poor body language that I’ve railed against seems to be gone, meaning he’s got actual confidence in his stuff and in himself, and it’s showing in his results.
And for as much crap (much of it rightfully) that Dave Duncan has had heaped on him this year, Weaver says Duncan deserves a lot of the credit for turning his and the Cardinals’ seasons around:
“Both [Dave] Duncan and [Tony] La Russa since day one have showed their support. I started out a little slow when I got to St. Louis, but like I said, they always had my back.”
The confidence of others in one’s abilities can go a long way in reinforcing confidence in one’s self. Given the way he’s pitched lately, it would neither surprise nor upset me to see the Cardinals look to re-sign him in the offseason. And with Weaver’s appreciation for Duncan’s tutelage, I think staying in St. Louis would be something he’d at least consider, even though his agent is The Evil One.
