Luke Weaver will turn 23-years-old later this month. But, the St. Louis Cardinals will be giving him an early birthday present. The Double-A starting pitcher will be promoted to Triple-A before his next start.
Weaver is the Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect, just behind highly-touted Alex Reyes. And, the two righties will join each other on the Memphis Redbirds’ roster within the next couple of days.
In 12 starts for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, Weaver has tallied six wins and just three losses, with a miniscule 1.40 earned run average. And, he has struck out 88 batters, while only walking 10, through 77 innings pitched.
With those numbers, compared to Reyes’ 30 walks and 85 strikeouts through 59.1 innings pitched at Triple-A, Weaver may have surpassed his teammate on the Cardinals’ depth chart.
Reyes’ control has been a concern of the Cardinals, thus far. But, the intrigue is his capability to light up a radar gun. However, in his start last night, Reyes threw 99 pitches in 4.1 innings – if only he could harness his control.
Weaver was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school, in the 19th round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft. But, he opted to attend Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. And, he was the Cardinals first round pick (27th overall) in the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft.
In his junior campaign with the Florida State Seminoles, Weaver went 8-4 in 16 starts. The Cardinals drafted him that summer.
Weaver began the 2016 season on the disabled list and missed the first two months. He was sidelined to allow a left wrist injury subside.
But, in his Double-A debut in June, Weaver showed zero lingering affects. He struck out 10 through 7.1 innings pitched. And, since then, he has continued to roll along.
The 6-foot-2 slinger last pitched for Springfield on Aug. 2. He went seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out nine.
Spencer Gleason covers the St. Louis Cardinals for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter.
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