* Kirk Saarloos: Sinkers, sinkers and more sinkers ... He had excellent command and movement in shutting down the Orioles last week ... His sinker has kind of a two-seam tailing action ... He will occasionally leave his sinker up in the zone, leaving it hittable ... In his last start, Saarloos informed Jim Joyce of his plan to work inside all game. Sure enough, Joyce didn't even warn Saarloos after he hit two batters ...
* Nick Swisher: Switch-hitter who looks much more comfortable from the left side ... Quick lefthanded swing helps him turn on fastballs for power ... Keeps his head on the ball well, and can drive low fastballs ... Righthanded, can be fooled by breaking pitches ... Will draw a walk but will also swing at the first pitch if he likes it ... Swisher showed some impressive accountability after striking out three times on Friday night: "Me personally, I'm the reason we lost" ... Swisher is regularly seen reviewing his at-bats on his locker-room DVD player, and he's cited Kendall and Kotsay as important offensive mentors ...
* Eric Chavez: Very level swing but can drive pitches to all fields ... Has more inside-out power than you'd expect ... Can be frozen by lefthanded breaking pitches ... Will reach for outside pitches, where his plate coverage isn't excellent ...
* Keith Ginter: Can pull mistake pitches a long way ... Hit one of the Brewers' longest home runs in 2004 ... Can be overpowered with good heat ... Selective in a Mark Bellhorn way, and will let some good pitches go by ...
* Ricardo Rincon: Pitches from the stretch full-time ... Likes to throw his breaking stuff away, away, away ... With a lead, will throw strikes and use his defence ... Not exclusively a LOOGY ... Is throwing more fastballs this year to lefties, who usually get a steady diet of sliders ...
* Huston Street: The A's selected him with their compensatory pick from the Tejada signing ... Pitching motion reminds me of kind of a cross between Mike Mussina and Mark Prior ... Brings heat that really comes in on righthanded hitters, but his fastball is occasionally flat ... Nasty, nasty slider that ought to be laid off. It's really hard to hit ...
* Danny Haren: Throws a sinking fastball, cutter and splitter that he throws off-speed ... Gets into trouble when he leaves his pitches up, because he doesn't often dial his pitches up into the mid-90s ... He says he can throw harder, but does not want to compromise his movement ... Slight hitch in his delivery -- less pronounced than Robb Nen, but you get the idea ... Fantastic splitter; the bottom really drops out of it and it's a nice change of pace ... Will walk hitters that don't bite on his breaking stuff ...
* Mark Kotsay: Now hits with glasses, and they've helped ... Has been spraying base hits all over the field thus far ... Waits on breaking pitches nicely ... Good, pesky bad-ball hitter and protects very well with two strikes ... Throw him fastballs away; you might be able to coax a roll-over pulled grounder (like when Vernon Wells is slumping) ...
* Jason Kendall: Frames pitches well behind the plate ... Hits without batting gloves and does the Tony Fernandez finger-waggle to keep his hands loose ... Chokes up well with two strikes ... Uppercut swing, and will sometimes pull off the ball ... Very selective and will work deep into counts ... Can be caught looking on late-breaking pitches ...
* Erubiel Durazo: Likes pitches up and in, but will go the other way with outside strikes ... The "Holy Grail" will, of course, take a walk ... Hasn't hit for any power so far ... Seems to be a tad slow thus far, getting jammed on inside pitches rather than turning on them ... Tough to strike out ...
* Scott Hatteberg: Great "spoil" hitter with two strikes ... Very selective and will seldom chase ... Will inside-out pitches that jam him ... Sits on fastballs, which he tries to pull for power ...
* Eric Byrnes: Level swing that gets good plate coverage ... Stays "closed" rather than opening up at the plate ... Has a violent swing somewhat similar to Kevin Millar's ... Can be fooled by change of speeds ... Will take pitches he's not expecting, even if strikes ...
* Marco Scutaro: Possesses some power ... Likes to drive balls the other way, to right and right-centre ... Hustles but is not a fast baserunner ... Gets under pitches and can be coaxed into popups ...
* Kiko Calero: Can get into trouble with hanging sliders ... Slider does have nice movement when it's on ... Great tailing action on his two-seam fastball ... Challenges hitters rather than nibbling ...
* Joe Blanton: Slide-steps with runners on base ... Will leave hangers up in the zone occasionally ... Good ability to concentrate and avoid walks ...
* Bobby Kielty: Stays back on pitches but flies open early ... From the left side of the plate, he just doesn't seem to put too much power behind his swing ...
* Octavio Dotel: He hit 95 and 96 on the radar gun on Sunday, a great sign after suffering through mediocre velocity during spring training ... Always works from the stretch ... Slings the ball, with arm action similar to a Dennis Eckersley ... Fastball can be really overpowering ...
* Bobby Crosby: The A's fear that Crosby's rehab from two broken ribs might be six weeks or longer ... His recovery process is likely to be similar to Tim Hudson's abdominal rehab from last season ... Trainer Larry Davis chalked up the injury, which freakishly occurred during batting practice, to Crosby's "particularly violent swing" ...
