Three quick notes on Cubs pitchers before my focus turns to Texas -- and a preview the Rangers staff. And I guess we'll be talking about Bob Howry at some point today. The latest news is that he's been signed, David Patton has been DFA to make room on the 40-man roster. I expect Justin Berg to go from the 25-man shortly.
1. Jeff Stevens just made his 2010 MLB debut. We saw Stevens last summer as a fastball/curveball guy. Early in the autumn, it looked like he added a cutter, but I now think it was his slider. Lou Piniella mentioned an improved slider when Stevens was called-up, so let's all keep a close eye on it.
To date, it averages around 9 MPH off the fastball, with around 8 inches of combined vertical/horizontal spin deflection relative to the fastball. I should probably add gravity back in, on top of the spin, to make that more clear. Maybe later, and comparisons to other sliders.
2. Carlos Silva's whiff rate returned to it's freakishly high level in his most recent start. It had dropped off, but for whatever reason he was missing bats again.
| Date | Whiff Rate | Change-up W.R. |
| 2010-04-09 | 0.256 | 0.353 |
| 2010-04-16 | 0.209 | 0.143 |
| 2010-04-21 | 0.238 | 0.238 |
| 2010-04-26 | 0.122 | 0.250 |
| 2010-05-01 | 0.275 | 0.313 |
| 2010-05-07 | 0.089 | 0.063 |
| 2010-05-12 | 0.023 | 0.000 |
| 2010-05-18 | 0.262 | 0.250 |
3. Carlos Zambrano's velocity has been the subject of much speculation. The Cubs say he was sent to the bullpen to regain it (huh?) and they're wondering where it went. Well, it didn't go far to begin with. But I do agree, it should have been better in relief. Thing is, it may have been getting there. So, I'm more interested in his stamina and pitch mix.
This graph shows Zambrano's four-seam fastball speed, going back to 2007, by game. The red line is his maximum, the blue line is minimum and the black is average speed.
No matter what the case, we're talking a small amount of speed.
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