Cubs Saturday - vs. Roy Oswalt

Another NL Central foe comes to town for three games this weekend, and I'm looking forward to the 59° weather coming up for Saturday's game. Not a game I had in my original plans this year, but one of those tickets that floats by every once in a blue moon. There are better ways to get tickets than waiting for blue moons, actually.

The Cubs just avoided a sweep, behind a nice job by Ryan Dempster. In San Diego, the Houston Astros dropped to 1-3 in the final game of their opening series against the Friars.

Here's a look at Roy Oswalt's opening day.

Gameday finds a lot pitches



I find four



Oswalt has two fastballs, a slider and a curve. The difference between is straight and "cut" fastball (4-seam vs. 2-seam) is just about 1 mph, but a few inches of movement.



He really mixed up his pitches. 2 out of 3 were one of his fastballs, the rest off-speed breaking stuff. Within those, he threw a pretty even amount of 2 vs. 4 seam and curve vs. slider.

Plate locations - notice above how many balls are called on that cutter.



Oswalt didn't become one of the league's best by accident. He has command of four pitches, each with a purpose. He has a 20+ mph spread from slowest to fastest, with the slider in between. Hopefully the Cubs will lay off that curve on Saturday and wait for him to miss his spot with fastballs, or hang a slider.

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