St. Louis Cardinals: Revisiting Luke Weaver in the bullpen

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Luke Weaver has struggled somewhat as a starter, and his position in the starting rotation is under question considering the performance of arms like John Gant. Plus the addition of others like Tyson Ross. However, if his is moved to the bullpen, it shouldn’t be seen as a demotion, but as a more suitable role for his skillset.

I visited this idea in an article when Luke Weaver was first brought up as a starter with the St. Louis Cardinals last season. There were several factors that lead me to believe that Weaver wouldn’t last as a starter, and would be more suited as a bullpen arm. For the most part, those circumstances haven’t changed.

The first concern was his small frame, which is tough to work with as a starter. Those kinds of pitchers tend to wear down easily, and may not have the stamina to last a full season, injury or not.

At 6’2″ and 170 pounds, Weaver doesn’t have the ideal starter frame. He has maintained his velocity so far this season, and his percentage of grooved pitches hasn’t made any steady rises, so it seems that his stamina has held up for the most part. However, those aren’t the only ways that a lack of stamina can affect a pitcher.

General control of pitches can be tougher if you understand the velocity dropoff with fatigue and attempt to overcompensate for it. This could be what’s caused Weaver’s pitch efficiency to crater since his struggles have started. And if it isn’t all of that and the fatigue isn’t a factor now, it will be as the season winds down when compounded with whatever is causing his current struggles.

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The second big issue with Weaver was the lack of variety in his arsenal. Brooksbaseball officially lists his arsenal at five pitches, but his cutter and slider are barely more than 5% of his pitches combined. He throws the combination of a four seam fastball and change up 80%, so its more appropriate to call him a pitcher with two pitches. With his fastball sitting at under 95 mph on average, it was only a matter of time and experience before hitters started to see his pitches.

His curve ball is another talking point; he has thrown it over 12% of the time this season. However, it is still an unpolished and unfinished pitch, just as it was last year. He has allowed a .328 BAA and a .209 ISO on the pitch this season, on top of only generating swing and misses 6.49% of the time. Developing a third pitch to start is something to be respected, but it shouldn’t hamper the rest of your game. Luke Weaver is comfortable as a two pitch pitcher, so that’s what he should be.

With all that being said, those issues can be nullified by placing Weaver in the bullpen. As I mentioned in my article about moving Weaver to the ‘pen last season, I was totally fine with him starting unless he started struggling over a long period. He has rebounded somewhat over a long break, but he is still giving up hard contact and has an unappealing 4.66 ERA

The other reason to not put Weaver in the bullpen would be because the team could not afford it, and this is certainly not the case. With all of the pitchers with starter-level stamina that have been promoted from the minors this season, there is no harm in shifting Weaver to the bullpen with all of the arms the fill the fifth spot. It seems that moving Weaver to the bullpen at this point is beneficial for both parties, and may help round out the new look St. Louis Cardinals ‘pen.

What are your thoughts on Weaver’s recent performances as a starter? Do you think the Cardinals would be better suited with Weaver in the bullpen? Should the Cardinals continue to develop him as a starter? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.