OPENING WEEK

Week one of another exciting MLB season is in the books.  With new rules concerning replays and home plate collisions on the field and a tightening of PED enforcement off the field the great game moves forward. 

ACES IN TRANSITION
Even with a small sample size (2 starts each) here are some early observations:
Justin Verlander had a subpar (for him) 2013 with  a 3.46 ERA after 2.64 in 2012 and 2.40 in 2011.  On January 9, 2014 he had core muscle surgery with a 6 week recovery period that went well enabling him to start the season on time.  One of the ultimate power pitchers saw his fastball lose some steam (95+ to 94) last year.  He is around 94 this year but throwing a lot more curves (normal 14-15% now up to 23%).  The Detroit Tigers ace who regularly touched 100 mph after 100 pitches in 2011 and 2012 will be closely watched to see if his velocity and pitch mix change the next few months. Does he still have that 100 mph heater in the tank? The 31 year old RHP strikeout rate is down to 3.2/9 IP from a normal of 8-9K/9 IP.  Verlander's salary this year is 20 million and he's signed through 2019 at 28 million per year (2015-2019).

Justin Verlander   (mlbphotos)

CC Sabathia had a career worst (4.78 ERA) in 2013.  His fastball velocity dropped from 94 to 92 the last couple years and it's down to about 90 as we start the year.  CC lost about 20 lbs in the offseason.  The 33 year old LHP is revamping his repertoire throwing less 4 seamers (40 to 15%) more sinkers (15 to 36%), sliders (22-27%) and changeups (16-22%).  He's morphing from a big and tall power pitcher to a tall average stuff lefty.  

CC Sabathia spring 2014    (northjersey.com)

Jered Weaver, the Angels ace, never was in the hard throwing category like Verlander and Sabathia.  Always depending on deception and a 90 mph heater and excellent off speed stuff Weaver still had a very good year in 2013 (3.27 ERA) pitching for 2.41 ERA in 2011 and 2.81 in 2012.  Weaver's 2011 fastball averaged 89.2 and now its down to a pedestrian 86 mph.  His pitch usage has changed over the years.
               4 seam FB    2 seam FB   Curve       Change
2011           30.0%          19.0%       10.3%       15.9%
2014           20.0             26.0           15.9          18.5

The 31 year old Weaver keeps evolving to stay ahead of the game and throwing a variety of pitches to keep hitters off balance with a still good strikeout rate of about 7/ 9 IP.  

Jered Weaver   (chron.com)

These aces should play a big role at the top of their rotations.  At the end of the season will they still be there?


Stats courtesy of Fangraphs, Baseball Reference , Brooks Baseball.