Patrick Weigel had finally made a name for himself in the deepest farm system in baseball, especially when talking about pitching. Out of all the fine arms in the system, it was Weigel the dark horse who won the organizational pitcher of the year award.
He is one of the best stories in the system, transferring from college to college while dealing with extreme control issues. In 2013 and 2014 while playing in college, Weigel had BB/9 rates of 7.2 and 9.6, respectively. He fixed these issues and flew through the system until hitting a bit of a speed bump in AAA, where he was finally tested by hitters, and unfortunately, last June, he had to take a visit to Dr. James Andrews to undergo Tommy John Surgery.
Now, he is back. Weigel had his first game action for the GCL team and struck out a man in his first inning.
He will have to work himself back up to AAA, where there is a lot of competition for rotation spots. But do not count him out. We have Weigel ranked as our 17th prospect, and expect big things from him in the future. It is certainly great to see him back in action.