How fast is jered weavers fastball

There is nothing unproven from that period of his career that he could still prove, that his arm is realistically capable of proving. Here's what he can prove, though, that has been there the whole way: He can prove that he can do it when it's hard. The pitching, but the rest of it too: the dealing with failure, the being under the glare, the obligation to one's teammates, the self-doubt.

All of that stuff is easier when you can throw hard. The test is when you can't, and now he's really being tested. Jake Lamb -- Home run to right field; Blanco, Goldschmidt score. At Scott Boras' office in Newport Beach, the lobby walls are covered with pictures of his famous clients, including Weaver.

In the open center of the room, up high, are huge pictures of the premier stars: Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper and the like. Below, but still visible in the middle of the room, are medium-sized portraits of second-tier stars and major league regulars. In the hallways and the shadows are smaller portraits of the other guys, the ones you forgot Boras represented, who you maybe forgot were still in the majors.

I imagine every Boras client who walks into that lobby for the first time sees his own picture and gets a thrill. The stars are honored to be in the stars section; the bit players are honored just to be there, in that company. But careers go up and then they go down, and there's a point when, one assumes, a player walks into that office and sees that his picture has been shrunken and moved.

I don't know where on the wall Weaver's photo is these days. But some version of that experience -- of being reminded of one's own decline -- must be everywhere for major leaguers.

The lifestyle remains awesome enough that it's easy to get through the day with ego intact, but a few times at idle moments, the world will send a signal: You used to be, but now not so much. Every day, the aging star walks into a clubhouse filled with teammates who know how good he used to be and how good he isn't. Retire, and all of that goes away; then you're an elder, belonging to history and the in-my-day circuit.

Keep playing, and the indignities of getting worse pile up. Yasmany Tomas -- Walk. A lot of times, we want to turn athletes' successes or struggles into something deep and complicated, a morality play with them at the center, a hero's journey in which they ultimately have full agency in the final outcome.

But Jered Weaver isn't bad now because he quit trying or because he forgot how to pitch or because he doesn't want it enough or because he's doing something wrong.

He isn't bad now because the league adjusted or because he needs a better plan or because people around him are letting him down or because the game changed around him. His body just doesn't throw as hard as it used to.

That's the entire thing: What he did worked when he could throw harder, but now it doesn't because he can't. There's nothing but that. It's simple, and it should be, by any reasonable standard, entirely shameless. He's trying. The only thing he's in control of now is how he handles it when it's harder and sadder. Brandon Drury -- Home run to left-center field; Tomas scores. There are two memories of Weaver that stick with me more than any others. One is from early in the season , and it's a few seconds of Weaver erupting into furious, unrestrained profanity after he allowed a meaningless single in a low-stakes moment.

That was all it took for this guy who was living the absolute American dream to turn into the most aggrieved person in the world.

Between the lines, he was probably the surliest major leaguer in the game. He'd glare at teammates who made mistakes behind him, or he'd stew about an umpire's call long enough to complain to reporters about it after the game. He'd throw at a batter for calling time out , and he apparently didn't believe that message pitches needed to be kept below the head. He looked mean and mad and angry and unhappy and teetering on the edge of kicking a water cooler over and just going home.

Watching him in any of those moments, he would have been the last player I'd have thought would be capable of keeping calm during these past couple years. Weaver has never averaged less than 82 mph with his fastball in a regular-season game. In the last 10 seasons, the slowest average fastball on record from a nonknuckleball-throwing right-hander was His best first-inning fastball last season was nearly 3 mph faster than his fastest pitch in a seventh inning. Scioscia said he was interested in seeing whether Weaver could hold his velocity into the pitch range later this spring.

Weaver could make as many as four more starts in Cactus League play. Left-hander C. Wilson , recovering from shoulder tendinitis, is planning to throw a bullpen session Thursday and one Saturday. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. The problem is he needs to be almost perfect rather than just hit spots now. Weaver has essentially turned in to a right handed version of Jamie Moyer.

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