6 years agoArizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Luke Weaver was one of the biggest fallers in the rankings from the start of 2018 to 2019. He went into 2018 as one of the best young pitchers, but his performance has dropped him outside of the top-75 starters. This offseason he was traded to Arizona after a year that saw him ultimately moved to the bullpen due to a lack of production. He finished the year with a 4.85 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and 121 strikeouts in 136 innings. Weaver’s performance in 2018 was a series of career-worst efforts in hard-hit rate (36%), BB/9 (3.56), and K/9 (7.99). The majority of his struggles also came against left-handed batters and pitching a third time through the batting order. Lefty swingers had a great time against Weaver, batting .288; the right-handed hitters didn’t do too bad either, with a .254 AVG against him. When pitching a third time through the order; Weaver had a 10.54 ERA in 23 innings. Weaver does have a couple of favorable circumstances for his 2019 horizons. He is still only 25 years old and will get a fresh start in the rotation for the Diamondbacks, where he will benefit from the humidor. Also, his velocity continued to trend higher (94) in 2018. Rotoballer ranks Weaver as the 84th starting pitcher, and his ADP of 307 makes him only draftable in 15-team or NL-only leagues. With a progression back towards his norm in underlying stats, Weaver has the potential to regain SP3-level status.--Ellis Canady - RotoBaller