Chart Observations: CLE @ DET

1) Carl Pavano: 101 pitches. 9 strikes swinging. 5 on Fastballs (1st, 2 in 4th, 5th, 6th), 3 on Sliders (3rd, 4th, 5th) and a Changeup (2nd)

• Pavano came from an over the top release and showed a 2-seam fastball with good sink and run in on righties, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with excellent fade from lefties with above average sink. Can over throw the change at times and may mix in a hard splitter as well (to account for some changes thrown in the 87-88 range).

1st: FB (88-91), CU (81-83)

2nd: FB (89-92), CU (80-82)

3rd: FB (89-92), CU (82-84), SL (85-87)

4th: FB (91-93), CU (80-87), SL (85)

5th: FB (91-93), CU (88), SL (84-86)

6th: FB (90-92), CU (80-83), SL (82-85)

7th: FB (89-90), CU (79-80), SL (84)

8th: FB (88-90), CU (81-85), SL (82-83)

2) Kerry Wood: 14 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Fastball.

• Wood came from an over the top release and showed a straight 4-seam fastball, a cutter with okay cut and some sink and a big breaking 12-6 curve with good depth.

9th: FB (93-98), Cut (88-91), CB (79)

3) Armando Galarraga: 103 pitches. 8 strikes swinging. 6 on Sliders (2nd, 3rd, 2 in 4th, 2 in 6th), a Changeup (3rd) and Fastball (2nd)

• He came from a 3/4 release and showed a 2-seam fastball with some run in on righties and a little sink, a 2-7 slider with some bite and a change with some fade from lefties and sink. His slider is his out pitch. He is no better then a back of the rotation starter.

1st: FB (85-92), SL (84-87), CU (84-87)

2nd: FB (89-92), SL (82-88), CU (86-87)

3rd: FB (87-92), SL (82-87), CU (85-87)

4th: FB (89-92), SL (82-86)

5th: FB (86-89), SL (85), CU (84-86)

6th: FB (91-92), SL (82-87), CU (82-86)

7th: FB (88-91), SL (85-87), CU (84-87)

4) Fu Te Ni: 12 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Ni is a 6-0, 170 pound lefty. The 26 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He comes from a 3/4 release with a slinging arm action. His fastball has good late run in on lefties. His change has some fade from righties with good sink. His slider is a loopy 11-4 with solid bite. His FB/CU and SL come out of his hand differently, as the FB/CU moves towards the plate 1st and his slider moves up a tad first. Extra arm.

7th: FB (89-90), SL (79), CU (80)

8th: FB (90-91), SL (76-79)

5) Freddy Dolsi: 26 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Changeup (9th)

• Dolsi came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties, a sharp 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with above average fade from lefties with a little sink. He struggles to find the release point for his slider, throwing one 40 feet then throwing the next at a righties head. Dolsi has good control, but below average command, constantly missing spots.

8th: FB (94-96), SL (84-88), CU (87)

9th: FB (93-95), SL (85), CU (86-88)

Chart Observations: DET @ PIT

• Zach Duke is a 6-2, 205 pound lefty. The 26 year old has a medium frame that can get up to 215. He comes from a high 3/4 release. His fastball shows some fade and a little sink. His change has more fade and sink then his fastball. His curveball is a big breaking 11-5 offering with good depth. His slider is an 11-4 offering with good bite that he prefers to throw to lefties. Duke is a good # 4 starter when he is throwing strikes with his curve and is a 4-A arm if he isn't.

1st: FB (89-90), CB (74), CU (83-84)

2nd: FB (89-90), CB (74-76), CU (83)

3rd: FB (88-90), CB (73-74), CU (82-83)

4th: FB (87-89), CB (73-75), CU (80-81), SL (80)

5th: FB (87-90), CB (74), CU (82-83), SL (80)

6th: FB (88-89), CB (72), CU (81-82)

7th: FB (87-88), CB (72), CU (80), SL (78)

8th: FB (86-89), CB (72-74), SL (77)

• Armando Galarraga, a 6-4 180 pound righty, opposed him. The 27 year old has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade and a little sink. His slider is a sharp 2-7 with solid bite. He will throw get me over sliders and sharper sliders for strikeouts. His change shows some fade, but is pretty straight. Galarraga is a # 5 starter right now, as he consistently falls behind hitters and really is just FB-SL and neither pitch is good enough to be a 2-pitch pitcher (FB is slightly above average, SL is above average, CU is below average). Perhaps the worst sign for him is that he has lost the confidence of his manager.

1st: FB (88-92), SL (81-86)

2nd: FB (88-92), SL (83-86), CU (84-86)

3rd: FB (88-90), SL (82-85), CU (84)

• Nate Robertson is a 6-2, 225 pound lefty. The 31 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes from a high 3/4 release. His fastball shows some late fade and sink. His slider is a slurvy 11-4, though he will throw a sharper slider with good bite at different times. His change is a straight change that shows some run and sink. He is your typical swingman, someone to throw long relief or start on occasion, but not really good enough to be a short reliever or a # 5 starter. My, his star has fallen.

3rd: FB (86), SL (80), CU (81-82)

4th: FB (85-88), SL (80-83), CU (80-84)

• Ryan Perry is a 6-4, 200 pound righty. The 22 year old has a big frame that can get up to at least 215. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball is a 4-seam with very little sink and fade. His slider is a 12-6, 1-7 type pitch that can be a little loopy and is still a work in progress. His change has good sink and a little fade. He is FB-SL to righties and FB-CU to lefties (at least in this game, I imagine he throws the SL to lefties as well). His upside is that of a closer with his velocity, but he is more likely to be a set-up man due to his command issues and the needed development of his secondary pitches. Right now, he is a 9th or 10th guy on a staff.

5th: FB (94-96)

6th: FB (94-97), SL (81-85), CU (87)

• Bobby Seay is a 6-2, 235 pound lefty. The 30 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He is a sidearmer that has a 4-seam fastball with good run and a sweeping 9-3 slider with good bite. He is an above average LOOGY and can be the # 1 lefty in a pen.

7th: FB (91-93), SL (81-82)

• Brandon Lyon is a 6-1, 195 pound righty. The 29 year old has a medium frame that can get up to at least 205. He comes from a high 3/4 release with a fastball that shows some fade and sink, a big breaking 12-6 curve with good depth and a cutter that shows decent cut. I think he is more of a middle reliever then a late inning guy, as he lacks that real out pitch.

8th: FB (92), CB (76-77), Cut (90)

• Jesse Chavez comes from an over the top release with a fastball that shows some fade, a hard change with good fade and some sink and a sharp slider with good bite. Set-up man ceiling who can probably occasionally close some games.

9th: FB (94-96), SL (90), CU (87)

• Andrew McCutchen is a 5-11, 175 pound center fielder. The 22 year old is a righty hitter/thrower and has a small frame that can add a lot more muscle (at least 190). He has a slightly open stance with a little bat tap. His trigger is a stride and shifting of his weight to his back leg. He has an above average arm with plus speed, giving him the potential to be a plus defensive centerfielder. McCutchen is more of a gap to gap hitter now and I don't think he will ever be a huge home run guy, but 15-20 in his prime isn't out of the question. He shows a solid eye at the plate and he has an aura about him. Watching him play, it is almost as if he knows he is better then everyone else and needs to prove it to everyone else. I like the kid and think he is a quality top of the order bat in development.

Chart Observations: DET @ MIN

• Armando Galarraga got the start for Detroit and showed good command of his fastball-slider combination. He sat at 88-93 with his fastball and 84-88 with his slider, while throwing a changeup at 81-85. He attacks from a low 3/4 arm angle, giving his slider a little extra cut. He threw more sliders then changeups in this game and I am unsure as to whether that is typical or not. His fastball shows some good fade, but it is still just an average pitch and his slider is just an average pitch movement wise. Both these pitches play up due to his plus command and he can put the slider wherever he wants. His changeup is below average and I see him as more a # 4 starter then a solid middle of the rotation starter.
• Kevin Slowey opposed him and kept hitters off balance with a fastball sitting at 87-90, a changeup at 80-85, a cutter at 82-86, a curveball at 72-75 and a slider at 81-83. Slowey mixed his pitches very well and worked through his struggles early in the game in regards to getting the fastball down. He works fast and typically pounds the ball in the strike zone. He is likely pitching at his peak, a middle of the rotation starter that is a better fit as a # 4 then a # 3. It isn't out of the realm of possiblity to see him add some velocity due to the fact his frame is still somewhat developing.
• Ryan Perry continued to look good with his fastball, sitting at 93-98 and was usually 94-96. He threw a slider at 81-84 that is pretty fringe. He still has the same upside due to his velocity on the heater, but I doubt he makes it, as he needs a secondary pitch and command. Reminds me a lot of David Aardsma when he first came up.
• Brandon Lyon was 91-92 with his fastball and threw a 75 mile per hour curveball. He just doesn't impress me. He has good above average command, but his stuff isn't that good. He is a decent middle reliever, as the NL West helped mask a lot of his deficiencies.
• Jesse Crain struggled commanding his fastball, which sat at 93-94 and he threw one curveball at 77. Still a quality middle reliever and I actually prefer his stuff to Matt Guerrier's in regards to a set-up role, but Guerrier has much better command. Guerrier sat at 91-92 with his fastball, 84-85 with his slider and 78-79 with his curveball. Both of these guys are strong set-up men.
• Jose Mijares threw much better this outing then his previous one. He sat at 90-94 with his fastball, 81-84 with his slider and 82 with his changeup. His slider is a tick above average, his changeup is average and his fastball is above average. His command has always been his bug-a-boo and when it is on, he is a set-up type reliever who can get out right handers, but when his command isn't, he is a LOOGY who needs someone ready in case of walks.
• Joe Nathan was 92-95 with his 4-seamer, 88 with his 2-seam, 89 with his slider and 82-83 with his curveball. Great collection of pitches, as all rate at least above average and he has plus command. One of the best.