David Weathers: Early 2000's Mets Relief Pitcher (2002 - 2004)
Weathers was a star basketball player in high school making All Region. He then attended Motlow State Community College at Tullahoma, Tennessee where he was a baseball star.
The six-foot three right hander was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the third round of the 1988 draft.
By 1991 he was pitching at AAA Knoxville with his best friend future MLB pitcher, Mike Timlin. There he was informed of his big league callup from former Met John Stearns who was his manager at Knoxville.
By 1991 he was pitching at AAA Knoxville with his best friend future MLB pitcher, Mike Timlin. There he was informed of his big league callup from former Met John Stearns who was his manager at Knoxville.
In July 1992 Weathers was chosen by the Florisa Marlins as the 29th pick in the expansion draft becoming an original Marlin. He started the year at AAA & was up in July then again in September when he made his first start.
In 1994 Weathers was a starting pitcher going 8-12 with a 5.24. Over the next two years he was used both as a starter & reliver, spending parts of five seasons with the Marlins going 17-22 with a 5.16 ERA. At the 1996 trade deadline he was traded to the AL New York team where he went 0-2 with a 9.35 ERA in 11 appearances making four starts.
1996 Post Season: Weathers began with two ALDS appearances against Texas, earning a win in Game #4 pitching three scoreless innings. In the ALCS win over the Orioles, he made two more appearances earning a win in Game #4 at Baltimore. In the World Series he made three appearances vs. Atlanta getting credit for a hold in the final Game #6.
Trivia: In his 19-year career this was to be his only post season appearance.
In 2001 he began the season with the Brewers then was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Peter Zoccolillo at the trade deadline. Overall batters hit just .216 against him. Weathers was 4-5 with four saves & a 2.41 ERA in a career high 80 appearances (fifth most in the NL).
Mets Career: In December 2001 he signed on as a free agent with the New York Mets. Weathers found a spot as a solid middle reliever, mostly being used as a set up man for Armando Benitez. In 2002 he had one of his best seasons.
2002: On Opening Day he got credit for the hold in the Mets 6-2 win over the Pirates at Shea Stadium. On April 6th, he pitched the 8th inning of a 2-2 tie in Atlanta, but the Mets scored nine runs in the top of the 9th giving Weathers his first Mets win.
winning pitcher when Mile Piazza & Roberto Alomar hit back-to-back HRs to put the Mets ahead for good in the top of the 8th inning. The win was the 40th career victory for Weathers.
Weathers became a workhorse out of the bullpen, already collecting 12 holds in 44 appearances by the All-Star Break.
In late July he got credit for two wins in a three-day span in a win at Chicago & win at home against the Montreal Expos where he pitched two scoreless. He would notch victories in August & September as well, getting his ERA under three in early September.
In the final three months of the season, he was 4-0 with eight holds & only blew one save which came on September 24th at Pittsburgh.
For the 2002 season Weathers was one of the league's best relievers, he went 6-3 (.667 winning%) with 17 holds posting a 2.91 ERA. He struck out 61 batters, walked 36 & gave up just 69 hits in 77 innings pitched. Weathers finished off 12 games & made 71 appearances. The Mets finished a disappointing fifth 75-86.
On May 9th Weathers came into a 3-3 tie with the Padres, then gave up a two run HR to Xavier Nady giving him the loss. On May 7th he entered a game at Shea Stadium with a 4-1 lead, but soon gave up a three run HR to Pat Burrell in game the Mets went on to lose 11-7.
On May 25th in Atlanta, Weathers was pitching a 1-1 tie in the 8th inning when he gave up a two run HR to Marcus Giles, putting the Braves ahead for good, giving him his fourth loss of the month. But he also collected six holds in the month as well.
In June he held opponents to a 1.89 batting average over 15 games.
On August 1st, Weathers gave up three runs on four hits to St. Louis in a big 13-5 Mets win. For the rest of the month, he only allowed two earned runs in 14.1 innings.
From August 28th to September 2nd, Weathers earned three saves allowing just one run which was unearned, in six innings in four appearances.
On the 2003 season he was 1-6 with seven saves posting a 3.08 ERA in 77 appearances. He struck out 75 batters & walked 40.
David led the Mets in holds (26) fifth most in the NL. He also led the Mets staff in innings pitched (87.2) & games finished (20).
2004: He began the year with a win on April 9th, pitching a scoreless 10th inning. The Mets went on to win it from a top of the 11th inning RBI double from Todd Zeile. On April 20th at Shea Stadium, an 8th inning HR from the Expos Jose Vidro gave him his first loss of the year.
On June 15th, after 32 appearances, Weathers was 5-3 with a 4.28 ERA & he was traded along with Jeremy Griffiths to the Houston Astros for Richard Hidalgo.
Post Mets Career: For the remainder of that season he pitched in both Houston & back in Florida.
In 2005 he went back to the Cincinnati Reds and found a spot as a quality closer for the next four seasons. In 2005 he was 7-4 with a team leading 15 saves & a 3.94 ERA taking over the closer spot from Danny Graves.
In 2006 he was 4-4 with 12 saves posting a 3.54 ERA for the third place Reds. In 2007 he saved 33 games (7th in the NL) and led the league finishing up 60 games posting a 2-6 record with a 3.59 ERA. The Reds fell to fifth place that year 72-90.
Weathers remained with the Reds for five seasons (2005-2009) overall was 22-27 with the Reds notching 61 saves with a 3.97 ERA.
He was still active at age 40, finishing up his career with the Milwaukee Brewers, his second stint there, going 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA in the latter part of 2009.
Career Stats: In a 19-year career, Weathers pitched in 964 games going 72-87 with 75 saves. He struck out 976 batters & walked 604 walks in 1376 innings, finishing off 304 games (113th most all time) posting a 4.53 ERA.
Retirement: After his playing days he coach youth & high school baseball in Tennessee.
Family: David married his wife Kelli (Davis) in Tennessee in December 1993. Kelli was a point guard for the Loreto High Lady Mustangs in high school then at Belmont University in Nashville. She later became an assistant high school girls basketball coach.
Together David & Kelli have three children. Their two daughters also play high school & college basketball.
In 2018 Ryan, a top prospect getting drafted by the San Diego Padres.
In 2021, Ryan began his MLB career with the San Diego Padres going 4-7 with a 5.32 ERA. On July 24th he hit a HR off the Marlins Braxton Garrett in a 3-2 loss at Miami.
In the Padres 2022 Wild Card season he pitched at AAA El Paso going 7-7 making one big league appearance. In 2023 he won his first two starts, including a win over the Mets at Citi Field with his parents on hand. He went 1-6 then was traded to the Miami Marlins.
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