D-Backs’ Weaver: Slider will be key to my success
Last season was not an easy one for Diamondbacks right-hander Luke Weaver. He was hit hard. Several of his pitches deserted him. His team appeared to lose faith in him. But after an offseason spent searching for answers, Weaver said he is looking at last year as a sort of blessing in disguise.
“It’s about going out there and showing there are no more weaknesses,” Weaver said. “Maybe tipping your cap and saying, ‘Thank you. Thank you for exposing them because you’re not going to ever touch them again.’”
Two years ago, Weaver used three and sometimes four pitches to carve through opposing lineups, proving hope for the Diamondbacks that they had landed a mid-rotation starter or better as part of haul for slugger Paul Goldschmidt.
The Weaver of last year, however, was reduced to two pitches. He was used, at times, like a glorified opener,
someone his club no longer seemed to trust to face opposing lineups multiple times.
He is entering what figures to be a pivotal year. He was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, securing a $1.95 million contract. His career has been filled with enough ups and downs in terms of both performance and health that it seems reasonable to believe that another down year — coupled with a rising salary in arbitration — might make him look overpriced in a cost-benefit analysis.
In 2019, Weaver posted a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts, a season cut short by arm problems. His ERA ballooned to 6.58 last season.
Weaver said his offseason was spent in part searching for consistency in his mechanics; he wants to drive down the mound and stay behind the ball, which he said will help with everything from the spin on his pitches to his ability to locate his fastball down in the zone.
But it sounded like his real focus was on his breaking balls — his cutter/slider, in particular. By the end of last season, his cutter and curveball had become so unreliable that he basically scrapped them, going primarily to his fastball/ change-up combo. He is hoping both become weapons for him again this year — but especially the slider.
“It’s a monumental pitch,” Weaver said. “In 2019, I had that. I had that consistently. I felt confident throwing that for strikes. For me, it was just easier to pitch. It opens up the fastball/changeup. It gives you more breathing room, a little bit more options. I’m just trying to get back to that.”
To do so, he spent time this offseason studying some of what he considers to be the best sliders in the game. He mentioned watching video of Mets pitchers Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman, hoping to find clues in their deliveries that could unlock something for him.
Rather than leaning on the data provided by pitch-tracking devices — something he had done in previous offseasons — Weaver instead relied on feel.
“I think we see it and we feel it and we know,” Weaver said. “And more than anything the batters are going to tell us what it looks like. When we get to live (batting practice), I’m excited to see the reactions on that and go from there.”
At the very least, Weaver’s sense of humor — and his dry delivery of it — is in mid-season form.
Asked how he his process for tweaking his slider, he said, “Mostly, I sat there and said, ‘I want to stop throwing a terrible one,’ and that motivated me to throw a better one.” As for his changeup, he referred to it as his “best friend for a while now.” He added, “We’ve had a good relationship and I’m happy to have him in my life.”
And Weaver’s perspective coming off his down year seems strong, as well.
“I think more than anything there’s blessings in that because, you look at it, and this game isn’t easy,” he said. “Sometimes it looks like it is for some people. Sometimes it can really beat a guy up. But I think you just learn from that. You take that, you drive it and use that as motivation.”