A rainout yesterday delayed Tim Redding's start. Roy Oswalt will start today and Andy Pettitte (finally!) will make his 2nd start as an Astro on Thursday, with Redding available to serve in long relief for either (probably Pettitte's) start. This got me to thinking - Redding's got great stuff...I wonder if he'd be better suited as a reliever?

The answer: NO.

Well, at least from the numbers that I'm looking at. For pitches 1-15, Tim has a 6.99 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. For pitches 16-30, he's got a 6.29 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. From then on, he's solid, especially pitches 46-90.

Again, sample size issues, but generally speaking, it looks it takes Redding a little while to 'get into' a game and settle down. Maybe he needs to prepare better, maybe he should warm up in the bullpen a little more...but whatever it is, he struggles in his first 30 pitches of his average start.

Most of my friends (except this guy) are done with school in the next week or two, which means it's been A WHOLE YEAR since I graduated from Vanderbilt. Man, that year went by fast. But apparently I can't get enough education, since I sent in my contract as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ yesterday. I'll be taking Statistics courses and teaching entry-level College Algebra, well on my way to becoming a major-league GM. Stat-heavy major league GMs: Beane, Ricciardi, Epstein, DePodesta...Wade? Gimme a few years...

It's all tennis all the time this week, as I've got lessons, matches, and a tournament this weekend. So if I'm not here, I'm probably at the WAC, teaching/playing/sleeping.

We need this series against the Pirates, especially with the way the Cubs have been playing without Prior. Well, at least until they ran into the buzzsaw that is the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thanks, Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb, for holding the Cubs to 1 run in their last 18 innings.