The Atlanta Braves are pretty well known for being a pitching factory. That has long been their bread and butter over the years. Somehow, they find great arms to impact their roster year in and year out. Some prospects pan out, and some of them don't. There's no way to know how long these prospects will make it in the big leagues. Too many unknowns exist in professional baseball.
The Braves hoped Ryan Weber would turn into something special when he was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He was selected out of St. Petersburg Junior College with a $125,000 bonus.
Unfortunately, his time in Atlanta was short-lived and not very impressive. There were flashes of success, but being a young pitcher who depends on movement is tough in the big leagues. He was called up by Atlanta for the first time in September 2015 and pitched 28.1 innings. Weber had a 4.76 ERA with six walks and 19 strikeouts. He would continue to get chances in 2016 as a spot starter, but it didn't go any better.
The right-hander pitched to a 5.45 ERA over 36.1 innings with five walks and 23 strikeouts. His control was impressive, and the movement helped rack up strikeouts. However, his lower velocity meant that when he missed his spots, teams did some damage.
That was his final season with the Braves, as he was claimed off waivers by the Mariners in the offseason. Weber went on to pitch in 9 seasons with 6 teams (including the Braves, Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Brewers, and Yankees). His stats weren't incredible, but it's impressive that he managed to stick around for so long.
Ryan Weber hung around in the majors for a long time after leaving the Braves
His longest stints were with Atlanta and Boston. The righty tossed 83.2 innings for the BoSox during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He pitched to a 4.73 ERA with 22 walks and 56 strikeouts. That's the last time he pitched that many innings for a big league club.
Weber's best work came in a couple of brief stints with the Yankees from 2022 to 2023. He pitched to an impressive 2.13 ERA over 25 innings, with 2 walks and 10 strikeouts. Unfortunately, a forearm strain in June derailed that final season for him. He elected free agency after the season and hasn't pitched since.
He pitched much better as a career minor leaguer with a 3.74 ERA over 1040 innings. He walked 182 batters and struck out 782 over 291 games. Weber's potential was so high, but he couldn't make the necessary adjustments to stick with an MLB rotation full-time. It wasn't the prettiest career, but he found a way to play professional baseball for 13 years.