TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jered Weaver added 10 pounds to his 6-foot-7 frame over the winter, reaching 210, and he did it the old-fashioned way.

"I did a lot of eating," he said, grinning. "Four meals a day instead of three. And no more fast food. I ate healthier -- chicken, steak. It took me some time to put it on. With my metabolism, I burn it off right away when I run."

Weaver had a goal in mind in spending more time at the dining table.

He wants that extra poundage to translate into extra innings.

"My goal this year is 200 innings," the 26-year-old right-hander from Simi Valley, Calif., said. "I threw more innings than I ever have last year (176 2/3), but I wanted to get stronger, to help my durability.

"If I can get to 200 innings, everything else will fall into place."

To that end, Weaver scaled down his winter throwing for precautionary reasons. He said he felt a "little tightness" in his right shoulder when he began playing catch in January and made sure he did nothing to irritate it.

"It's the same kind of feeling I've had for the past three years, nothing I haven't dealt with before," he said. "I wanted to back off a little bit. I want to keep it loose, stretch it out.

"I'll get ready for when the season starts. I'm not worried about it. I'm on schedule ... just a little tardy."

Weaver was blazing last spring. He was so good, in fact, that he was manager Mike Scioscia's choice to pitch on Opening Day in Minnesota with John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar on the disabled list.

Weaver had a solid outing against the Twins, yielding three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings, but he absorbed the loss. He came back in his first home start with one of his finest outings of the season, holding Texas scoreless on two hits through seven innings for his first win.

As the season wore on, he had some brilliant performances interspersed with substandard games that inflated his ERA. He finished 11-10 with a 4.33 ERA in 30 starts -- not bad, but not what he'd expected.

In a bizarre game that in a strange sense defined his season, Weaver on June 28 at Dodger Stadium combined with Jose Arredondo on an eight-inning no-hitter. But the Angels lost, 1-0, on an unearned run created by errors by Weaver and catcher Jeff Mathis.

"Awesome to be involved in a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium," Weaver said, having gone six innings with Arredondo working two, "but not so awesome to lose the game."

Scioscia has Weaver on a less accelerated early program than some other starters. The manager said he has no concerns about the condition of the pitcher's arm or his ability to be ready for his first meaningful start in April.

"Weav is throwing 170, 180 feet," Scioscia said. "We'll evaluate his arm strength, where he is. He's a little behind, but he's getting ready for the season.

"This is something most pitchers go through every year. There are adhesions you have to break through, range of motion, arm strength to build. It's a rite of spring. These guys are grinding through it."

Given his long frame and involved delivery, Weaver can't snap his fingers and settle into a comfort zone in his mechanics.

"Some pitchers need more time to build up to where they need to be, and Weav is one of them," Scioscia said. "There's no concern [that] he's going to be ready. For some pitchers, it's easier. Some have to work harder."

Weaver, 26, was a 2004 No. 1 pick (12th overall) in the First-Year Player Draft after a legendary career at Long Beach State, and he had a stunning beginning to his Major League career in 2006.

Recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on June 30, he won his first nine decisions en route to an 11-2 record and 2.56 ERA in 19 starts. No pitcher had started his career 9-0 since the Yankees' Whitey Ford in 1950.

The bar raised to unrealistic heights, Weaver probably pushed himself too hard the following spring to show he was for real. The result was bout of biceps tendinitis that delayed his 2007 start. He experienced periodic shoulder pain in forging a 13-7 record and 3.91 ERA in 28 starts.

Along with adding some weight, Weaver feels he can elevate his game by "becoming more efficient." Conversations with staff leader Lackey, his good buddy, have driven home the necessity for outs early in counts, leading to getting deeper into games.

Weaver went seven or more innings seven times in 2008. Ervin Santana did it 18 times, Joe Saunders 14 times -- and both of Weaver's teammates landed on the American League All-Star team.

There's a message there that hasn't escaped Weaver's attention.

"That first-pitch strike, trying to get early outs -- that's huge," he said. "I get a lot of foul balls in a game, and that brings up my pitch count. If I can get outs in those first three pitches, I'll be able to get deeper in games. Being efficient early in the count, not nit-picking, that's something I really have to focus on."

The stuff is All-Star caliber. His fastball isn't blinding -- it peaks at about 92 mph -- but it has excellent movement, and he cuts his fastball to reach the outside corner. He has a slurve (combination slider/curveball) and a tighter curveball, and his changeup runs away from left-handed hitters.

The package is complete.

Now the challenge is to stretch it out into the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

If Weaver can do that, he could be following good buddies Lackey, Santana and Saunders into a Midsummer Classic as a certified All-Star very soon.