* Omar Infante: Rangy shortstop with soft hands but an erratic arm of late ... Sometimes seems to be trying too hard ... Level swing, but off his front foot ... Prefers the ball up and in ... Because he winds up on his front foot, he's very vulnerable to offspeed stuff when he's thinking fastball ...
* Vance Wilson: Not Pudge behind the plate, as he throws out 26% of would-be base stealers compared to Rodriguez's 46% ... Inside-out swing leads to a lot of dying quails ... Likes the ball down in the zone ... Can be frozen by high breaking stuff that drops into the zone, since he lays off anything above the belt ... Does not cover the outside part of the plate well ...
* Craig Monroe: Stays back very well on breaking pitches. He uses a leg kick to ensure that he doesn't get out on his front foot ... Uses the whole field ... Chases down and away ... Also has a bit of a hole on the inside corner at the knees ... His grand slam in a losing cause on Tuesday night was Monroe's first grand slam ever, including in Little League ... Known as "C-Moe" ...
* Craig Dingman: Served up the walk-off blast to the O-Dog last week, on a severely hanging curve ... Relies on the (ordinarily much heavier) downward movement on his mid-70s curve to induce ground balls ... Also has a late-breaking slider in his arsenal ...
* Fernando Rodney: Was hit hard by the Bosox ... Throws a 93-mph four-seam fastball, but it's pretty straight ... His slider sinks, but has very little lateral movement ... Good two-seam fastball when he can locate it ...
* Mike Maroth: Fell just one out shy of a shutout in his last start. Then again, it was against the Royals ... His slider doesn't have much oomph at 83-85 mph. He therefore really has to nibble with it; if he catches the plate, it's awfully hittable ... Still, he's not afraid to work inside to righthanded hitters ... Works lefties low and away, counting on them not being able to pick up the ball ...
* Chris Shelton: Compact swing, but don't let that fool you: He's got power to all fields ... Lays off pitches away and can be caught looking on the outside corner ... Not as effective on strikes down and away ... Alert and a hustler on the basepaths ... Heady but limited defender at first base ...
* Jason Johnson: Lugubrious delivery from the full windup. It takes some getting used to as a hitter ... His four-seamer is pretty straight ... Throws a nice, tight slurve that he usually keeps down in the zone ... Trusts his defence and keeps the ball in play ... A low-K, low-walk guy that is pretty average in all other respects ...
* Ivan Rodriguez: Returned from his suspension, but has been battling a sore hip flexor lately ... Has also been struggling with some personal problems, as he's going through a divorce. Rodriguez was not amused when he heard grumblings from the clubhouse about his not accompanying the team to Toronto during his suspension: "They don't know what I've been going through all year, and they don't need to know because it's my personal business" ... Then again, he spent those four days in Colombia ... That line isn't a misprint on the chart: Pudge's OBP is lower than his batting average against lefties, when you take sacrifice flies into account. He's drawn just one walk against southpaws, and sports an awful 6/68 BB/K ratio ... Alan Trammell can't understand why Pudge has expanded his strike zone so dramatically this season ... Hitting just .227 with runners in scoring position ...
* Sean Douglass: Old friend has come back to earth lately with tough outings against Toronto and Boston ... When he leaves his slider up, even Alex Cora can take him deep -- and did ... Neither his four-seam nor his two-seam fastballs are overpowering. Watch the first couple of innings -- if he isn't locating his breaking stuff, he'll be in trouble ...
* John McDonald: Old friend Johnny Mac has impressed with his solid glove and slappy bat in Tigertown ... Collected three hits on Wednesday after driving in the winning run off Curt Schilling on Monday ... Stole his sixth base of the season, and first as a Tiger, on Wednesday. He hasn't been caught all year ...
