Chart Observations: DET @ HOU

1) Justin Verlander: 118 pitches. 10 strikes swinging. 8 on Fastballs (3 in 1st, 2nd, 2 in 3rd, 4th, 6th) and 2 on changeups (both in 1st)

• He came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with some run and a little sink in on righties, a change with excellent fade and sink, a 12-6 curve with good depth and bite and a sharp 2-7 slider with some bite, but not much. He will throw changes to righties and only threw the slider to righties, mostly Hunter Pence. Verlander's command wasn't as good as it has been and he was pitching to the middle of the plate quite a bit.

1st: FB (93-100), CB (77-83), CU (83-84)

2nd: FB (92-96), CB (78), CU (83)

3rd: FB (91-99), CB (79-83), CU (83), SL (88)

4th: FB (92-96), CB (77-80)

5th: FB (92-94), CB (77), CU (81), SL (87)

6th: FB (93-97), CB (78-81), CU (84)

2) Wandy Rodriguez: 106 pitches. 3 strikes swinging. 2 on Curves (both in 2nd) and a Change (1st)

• He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a straight 4-seam fastball, a big breaking 11-5 curve with good depth and a straight change with a little sink. I am not a huge fan, as his command is erratic and doesn't have a true out pitch. He is a # 3 or # 4 starter.

1st: FB (90-93), CB (75-78), CU (85-87)

2nd: FB (89-92), CB (78), CU (85)

3rd: FB (89-91), CU (83-84)

4th: FB (88-90), CB (74-77)

5th: FB (88-93), CB (75-81), CU (83)

6th: FB (87-90), CB (73-76)

3) Nate Robertson: 3 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• The Tigers latest attempt to make Nate Robertson relevant is to use him as a loogy. He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some sink and a little run in on righties. He is a long reliever and doesn't make a good LOOGY due to him not having a dominant off speed pitch for lefties.

6th: FB (86-88)

4) Zach Miner: 18 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Miner is a 6-3, 200 pound righty. The 27 year old has a medium to big frame that is nearly maxed out. He comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seam with excellent run in on righties and has some sink. His slider is a 2-7 pitch with good bite. His change has a little fade and sink that he will throw to righties. His curve is a 1-7 pitch with solid depth. He is in the perfect role for him, to pitch the 6th and 7th to get them to their end game guys. May be able to hold a Scot Shields type role for a couple of years.

6th: FB (93-94), SL (83)

7th: FB (92-95), SL (81), CU (81), CB (74)

5) Alberto Arias: 32 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. Fastball, Curve (both in 7th)

• He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a power 12-6 curve and a fastball with excellent run and sink in on righties. Still a fan of this guy.

7th: FB (92-96), CB (80-83)

8th: FB (92-94), CB (80-82)

6) Tim Byrdak: 10 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Fastball.

• He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a straight 4-seam fastball and a sharp 11-4 slider with solid bite.

8th: FB (90-92), SL (84-85)

7) Chris Sampson: 7 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a 2-seam fastball with good run and sink in on righties, a 2-7 slider with solid bite and a 2-7 curve that had some depth and was slower then his slider.

8th: FB (87-89), SL (81-84), CB (76)

8) Joel Zumaya: 30 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Zumaya is a 6-3, 210 pound righty. The 24 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes from a 3/4, almost high 3/4 release. His fastball is a dead straight 4-seam that can flash some run in on righties. He has a classic drop and drive delivery and alsoo shows a 1-8 power curve with good depth. His command was a question in this outing, but his mechanics appear to be pretty clean. Future closer.

7th: CB (80-81)

8th: FB (99-102), CB (80-82)

9) Freddy Dolsi: 3 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Dolsi is a 6-0, 160 pound righty. The 26 year old has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. He is your typical long and lanky pitcher. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has excellent run in on righties while his slider is a 2-7 pitch with okay bite. He was in the middle of the plate with his fastball and struggles to command it due to the movement he generates with it. He is a solid middle reliever who could be a set-up man if he figures out his fastball command.

8th: FB (95), SL (86)

10) LaTroy Hawkins: 10 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Hawkins came from an over the top release and showed a sharp 12-6 curve with good depth, a sharp slider that moves more like a cutter and a straight 4-seam fastball.

9th: FB (93-96), SL (88-90), CB (79-81)

COL @ HOU

• Wandy Rodriguez is a 5-11, 195 pound 30 year old. The left hander has a small frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some run. His change is a straight change with some sink. His curveball is an 11-4 type pitch that can be inconsistent with break, ranging anywhere from plus to average. The plus curve has great depth and just falls off the table, while the average ones tend to look like slurves. He has a classic drop and drive delivery and cocks his arm a little, as it stays up at the top of the arm circle longer then most. He struggled with his command, leaving a lot of fastballs belt high and throwing a ton of curveballs belt high. He had allowed 1 home run all season (something like 65 innings) and proceeded to allow 4 (Atkins twice, Spilborghs, Hawpe). Wandy is a # 3 starter at best. His main issue is that he is primarily FB-CB. These 2 pitches have enough speed difference that you can sit on one and still be able to foul the other off if he throws it. He was pitching over his head at the beginning of the season.

1st: FB (89-92), CB (77-79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (90-92), CB (75-78), CU (85-86)

3rd: FB (88-92), CB (75-79), CU (85-86)

4th: FB (89-92), CB (74-76)

5th: FB (85-90), CB (75-78), CU (84)

• Jason Hammel was acquired by the Rockies after he lost his bid against Jeff Niemann for the 5th spot in the Rays rotation. The 6-6, 220 pound right hander has a big frame that has room to add more muscle. The 26 year old comes at you from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His change shows good fade and sink and will throw it to right handers. It will flash plus with excellent sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch with good bite and depth. It has some good late downward action as well. His slider is a 2-7 offering with some bite and depth. The slider is just a harder thrown curve. He showed great command and had a loose arm with a little wrist circle while he was in his arm circle. Hammel's upside is that of a # 2 starter, but his realistic ceiling is a # 3. He can add quite a bit more muscle to his frame and has a good array of pitches.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (84), CB (76), CU (85)

2nd: FB (93-94), SL (83-84), CB (78), CU (85)

3rd: FB (91-94), CB (76-77), CU (85)

4th: FB (92-94), SL (83-85), CB (77), CU (85)

5th: FB (91-94), CB (77-78), CU (83-85)

6th: FB (93), SL (85)

7th: FB (91-93), CB (76-77), CU (83-84)

• Russ Ortiz was the 1st of two Houston long relievers that I am better off without seeing. He came from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 big breaker with average break. His change is straight with a little fade and sink and is more of a show pitch. His cutter has good late action in on lefties and is an effective weapon. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite. I guess he can be solid as a long man, but isn't there someone in their system that can do that?

6th: FB (88-91), CB (75-77), CU (81), Cut (89-91)

7th: FB (90-92), CB (74-78), Cut (87-90), SL (86)

• Brandon Backe was the other. Remember when he was a good starter? Neither does anyone else. The 6-0, 195 pound right hander has a medium frame that can add more muscle. The 31 year old featured a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade, but is just an average offering. He really struggled to command the fastball and left them up, away, down and in. His slider is a 2-7 offering with average bite. His curveball is 12-6 with good late bite and depth. His cutter doesn't do much to the naked eye. Another guy who I guess could be a good long man. The Astros need to find some guys that actually have some upside to throw these meaningless innings in my opinion.

8th: FB (89-91), Cut (88-89), SL (81-83), CB (75)

9th: FB (86-90), CB (75)

• Jason Grilli continued his struggles. Coming from a high 3/4 release, the right hander showed a fastball with some fade, a slider that can be anywhere from average to plus and a change with some fade but little sink. His fastball is slightly above average and his slider can be anything on a given day, as his plus slider moved across nearly the entire plate with good bite while his average sliders had just a little bite . Solid middle reliever who has been battling his command and continued to do so tonight.

8th: FB (92-95), SL (82-87), CU (85-86)

• Alan Embree is what he always is, a left hander who pitches from a high 3/4 release with a 4-seam fastball with some run and a 11-4 slider with good bite. He can keep this up as long as he maintains his velocity. Take out the 88 pitch and he was 92-94 with his heat.

9th: FB (88-94), SL (77-80)

• Edwin Bellorin is a 27 year old catcher who was the guy to take Chris Iannetta's spot for the next week or so. The 5-9, 225 pounder has a small frame that is maxed out. He has an open stance with a little bat wiggle. He holds the bat similar to Matt Stairs with some cocking action, which is his trigger combined with a stride. His swing can get a little long. He doesn't look to profile well as anything more then a back-up catcher, as his bat looked fringy with slightly below average pop and may struggle to catch up to plus fastballs. He presented a big target to throw to and looked like he called a pretty good game. Who knows if he will gain membership into the 10 year back-up catcher club started by Tim Laker?

Off tomorrow!!!! Thank God. I need sleep. Got a baseball game though, so it's not like I have nothing to do. One of these days, I will.

One of the games on my get to watch list (going to try and watch it Sunday) is Vin Mazzaro's major league debut.