Jon Weaver: Rays Go the College Reliever Route Again in Round 21

In the 21st round of the 2012 MLB Draft, the Rays selected Jon Weaver, a right-handed reliever as a senior sign out of Central Michigan University. Weaver is a solid relief prospect. In 2012 at CMU, he went 3-3 with a 2.66 ERA, 34 strikeouts, 12 walks, and 2 homers allowed in 2 starts, 24 relief appearances, and 44 IP. He earned 7 saves. Let’s get to his stuff.

Weaver is 6’3″, 215 and throws in the low-90’s with his sinking fastball, which he commands relatively well. What makes him interesting is his secondary pitches. Weaver throws a curveball and a changeup. He controls both pitches well and gets some nice 11-to-5 break at times on the curve and some nice late sink occasionally on the changeup. Weaver forces a lot of groundballs and doesn’t walk too many batters, although he may never be overpowering. He needs some work on command but has a decent arsenal.

Weaver probably has middle reliever upside and he could move relatively quickly to the majors in that role. He’s not exciting but he could get out of some jams with double plays and won’t beat himself too much with walks. If the Rays get a halfway-decent major leaguer in Round 21, they’ll definitely be happy.