Just some graphs and notes to send us into the season.
Andrew Cashner:
The hardest thrower here, but he'll probably slide down behind Marmol now that he's in the rotation. Cashner's bread-and-butter is his powerful four-seam fastball. He has a good hard slider (and maybe even a few power curves) and a much improved change-up. His sinking two-seam fastball may become a more important weapon as a starter, particularly early in counts.
Ryan Dempster:
The cagey veteran has quality swing-and-miss stuff. A nasty splitter and a good slider balance out his fastballs. He'll mix and match two- and four-seams depending on the situation and how he feels. Demp even throws a few straight change-ups.
Carlos Marmol:
Two pitches, the nasty slurve/slider and the hard moving fastball. I've spotted a change-up and a two-seamer here and there over the years, but he really just comes after guys with the two big guns. Marmol's control problems are often more evident in his fastball than the slider, so catchers will often call for the slider when he's unable to locate the heat. He also tends to pitch backwards, with fastballs in pitcher's counts and sliders in hitter's counts. The odd pitches hanging low below the fastballs are PITCHf/x calibration issues, not the sinker.
John Grabow:
A guy who really isn't too tough on lefties, Grabow throws four-seam fastballs along with a few two-seam sinkers. Then you've got the slider and change-up and not a whole lot to be excited about.
Matt Garza:
Garza's chart is messed-up a bit by some calibration issues in Tropicana, but you can still make out his four- and two-seam fastball groups, a change-up, a slider and a big curve. Stuff isn't the issue, it's control and focus on the mound.
Jeff Samardzija:
Shark has run through pretty much every pitch in the book, but seems settled now on a two-seam fastball, cutter and curve. He's also gone through a slider phase, a baby curve phase, and I've lost track of whether he's using a change-up or a splitter. I think it's the splitter, or a circle change that tumbles. Samardzija no longer shows the 95-97 mph speed he once possessed. Remains the best third down option until Matt Szczur makes the team.
James Russell:
Second-generation big league pitcher. The Cubs third lefty in the pen. Russell relies on a four-seam fastball along with a change-up, curveball and slider. His stuff is not remarkable, and his over the high 3/4 delivery and pitch selection yield a lot of fly balls.
Marcos Mateo:
Wait, this guy throws harder than Marmol. Mateo doesn't have a change-up, but he has a good slider and throws some sinkers along with the four-seam heater. Sleeper in the pen, if his control is consistent he could be a 7th inning killer.
Sean Marshall:
The lanky lefty is no longer a starter option. His arm slot has changed, yielding more two-plane movement on his curve than in the past. Marshall can throw in the low 90s, but is usually in the upper 80s with a lot of cutters. He'll throw four- and two-seam fastballs as well as a slider. He's good at this whole relief pitching thing, as it turns out.
Kerry Wood:
Kid K is no longer a kid, but still has electric stuff. Long a cutter thrower, he may have benefited from time spent hanging around Mariano Rivera (one can hope). Kerry throws that mid 90s four-seam fastball and power curve. The slider is a thing of the past.
Randy Wells:
Randy is a lot like Dempster, similar stuff but a circle-change instead of a splitter. Wells has also added a cutter to his arsenal. The similarity to Dempster has always given me hope. Hopefully he'll have a strong 2011.
Carlos Zambrano:
Big Z throws it all. He'll throw his two-seam fastball two ways, one with a little more sink. He loves his splitter, has a back-and-forth relationship with the cutter, and can always fall back on the four-seam fastball. His slider sweeps, and his curve loops slowly. Zambrano will take speed on and off all of his harder pitches, and may mix in a straight change-up independently of that.
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