After strong start to major league career, young left-hander went through struggles and mechanical adjustments
“There was a lot of trial and error last year,” the Padres’ former second-ranked pitching prospect said. “The second half, I thought I threw the ball a lot better. The first half of the season, it was every outing switching a pitch grip just trying to figure out which thing would work. One day something would click. Several outings in a row were just constant grip change, even my fastball.
“We were pretty — I wouldn’t say lucky — but we were we were pretty healthy last year,” manager Bob Melvin said recently. Weathers is considered one of the leading candidates among what could be called “the next six.” That is, a leading candidate to fill a long relief role or be called up to make a spot start and provide the comfort of knowing that there is adequate fortification in the event of injury.
Weathers and Groome will get the first crack at impressing the Padres’ decision makers. Both are scheduled to pitch in Friday’s spring training opener against the Mariners after starter Nick Martinez goes what is expected to be two innings. The rest of the time was spent with Triple-A El Paso, where he posted a 6.73 ERA in 123 innings and, more importantly, worked on a lot of things.
The second-most-noticeable thing about Weathers this spring is that his pitching motion appears more confined and smooth. The most noticeable thing is that his windup now features him raising his hands above his head as opposed to simply up to chest level as he used to.
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