Its official, there are two more sets of brothers playing professional baseball now. Jered Weaver and Stephen Drew both signed with the teams that drafted them (Angels and D'backs respectively) and probably cost themselves some upfront cash and some earlier arbitration money in the process. That is besides the point of this exercise though; what is it that these two are capable of right now? Here are there college stats:
Jered Weaver Long Beach State U.
2002
ERA: 4.40
K/BB: 74/32 (2.31)
K/9: 7.2
BB/9: 3.1
H/9: 7.8
HR/9: 0.391
WHIP: 1.22
2003
ERA: 1.96
K/BB: 144/20 (7.2)
K/9: 9.7
BB/9: 1.4
H/9: 5.9
HR/9: .474
WHIP: 0.80
2004
ERA: 1.62
K/BB: 213/21 (10.14)
K/9: 13.3
BB/9: 1.3
H/9: 5.1
HR/9: 0.5
WHIP: 0.71
That last season looks slightly reminiscent of another high profile college pitching season:
2001 USC
ERA: 1.70
K/BB: 202/18 (11.22)
K/9: 13.17
BB/9: 1.17
H/9: 6.52
HR/9: 0.33
WHIP: 0.86
I'm sure many of you guessed correctly in thinking the above statistics are from Mark Prior's last college season. I don't know enough about Weaver, and we'll see soon enough if he's capable of the same types of performances that Prior has put forth so far very soon. Prior jumped straight to Double-A for 6 games, Triple-A for 3 games, and then to the majors for 19 more starts. Weaver's rise may have been as fast if he did not sit around and allow Ervin Santana to get called up to fill a rotation slot instead. Most likely Weaver will spend the rest of the year in the minors until that seasons ends and face a September callup now. Remembering K-Rod's ascent during his September callup in 2001, and the fact he was kept on the playoff roster,that might be a bigger deal than it sounds like. If he can come out of the gate like Prior did in 2002 (3.32 ERA, 11.34 K/9) than the Angels have themselves a secret weapon. Not to mention the time off Weaver had was probably beneficial to him and allowed his arm some time to relax. Anything that helps push a pitcher past the injury nexus is a plus; even Josh Beckett's blisters are a blessing in disguise, because they may have kept his workload down enough to keep him healthy in the future.
Stephen Drew FSU 2002 & 2004
2002
.402/.457/.750
AB: 204
HR: 16
2B: 15
SB: 13/15 (87% success)
BB: 20
2004
.348/.458/.692
AB: 227
HR: 17
2B: 14
SB: 12/14 (85.7% success)
BB: 45
There was some improvement in his plate discipline, but besides that more of the same in his second year in college ball. I expect Drew to turn out to be a pretty good shortstop, but lets see him hit some professional pitching before I make any types of assumptions. I cannot find brother J.D.'s college stats, but I see his St. Paul Saints numbers, which look reminiscent of Stephen Drew's college numbers. I'm not sure how close that independent league and FSU's college league are as far as translating statistics. If one of you knows tell me in the comments.
I think we'll see Stephen Drew in a couple of years, and Jered Weaver could be up as early as September as previously stated. If I was forced to make a guess as to career direction, I'll say Jered Weaver turns alot better than brother Jeff and Stephen Drew does not succeed as much as J.D. Drew. Jered Weaver, once he works the kinks out of facing professional pitching, could be much more ready than we think and could step in next time the Angels need a shot to their rotation. Or, they could wait til Jarrod Washburn leaves via free agency, save their money by not bidding on A.J. Burnett, and promote Weaver to the rotation. We'll see what happens very soon.