Got Your Back, Bro

If there's anything that might give hitters hope, it's a news report from early in spring training. Jered was partying with some college teammates, got cited for public intoxication and spent a night in the Long Beach city jail. He promised that, from then on, he would "just go out and have your few and make your way home." What was most encouraging (for hitters) was not that Jered proved he could make a mistake, but that he was so fascinated by his night in jail. "I wouldn't say it was cool," he said during spring training, "but it was a trip to see people you've never even seen on Cops."

But if there's any incipient wackiness here, it's likely to be corrected by big brother in one of his every-other-day phone calls, reminding the kid of his place in the clubhouse, in the game, on the road. This kind of brotherly love, in place of the more reliable sibling rivalry, cannot be good news for opponents. With the two Weavers watching each other's backs, family dynamics don't favor the hitter.