Roy Oswalt
Since the debacle of the first two games of the season, Roy has strung together some pretty impressive starts. With the two starts against the Reds, one against the Dodgers, and an inning against the Braves, Roy has an ERA of 2.25 in 20IPs.
Roy comes in to this game looking for his first win of the season facing the Nationals, a team in which Roy is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP - but 0-0 last year in two games...
| Date | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 5/7 | 7 | 6/3 | 9:2 | 10/7 | 97/67 |
| 7/11 | 1 | 1/0 | 0:1 | 2/2 | 17/9 |
Why the shortened appearance on July 11? Strained left hip in the first inning, and he didn't pitch again until 28 July. Versus this current crop of Nationals:
| Batter | HxAB | HR-RBI | K:BB | BA/OBP/SLG |
| Zimmerman | 3x8 | 2-3 | 3:0 | .375/.375/1.125 |
| Willingham | 4x12 | 0-0 | 3:0 | .333/.467/.333 |
| Belliard | 5x18 | 0-1 | 1:0 | .278/.278/.278 |
| Dunn | 16x64 | 4-8 | 19:13 | .250/.377/.563 |
| Guzman | 2x8 | 0-0 | 2:0 | .250/.250/.250 |
| Kearns | 6x35 | 0-3 | 12:2 | .171/.211/.171 |
| Cintron | 1x7 | 0-0 | 1:0 | .143/.143/.143 |
| Johnson | 1x9 | 0-0 | 3:3 | .111/.333/.111 |
Scott Olsen
Scott Olsen came from Florida with Josh Willingham for Emilio Bonifacio and a couple of other guys, and things really aren't going so well. Well, they're going better, but like Roy, he's overcoming his first two starts, with his last three faring much better. Let's look:
First two starts:
| Date-Opp | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 4/7 @FLA | 3 | 8/8 | 2:3 | 7/8 | 69/41 |
| 4/12 @ATL | 5 | 6/5 | 3:3 | 7/10 | 82/48 |
Last three starts:
| Date-Opp | IP | H/ER | K:BB | GB/FB | Pit/Str |
| 4/18 vFLA | 7 | 6/2 | 5:1 | 10/13 | 103/71 |
| 4/24 @NYM | 6 | 9/3 | 4:2 | 6/16 | 96/63 |
| 4/29 @PHI | 5.2 | 6/1 | 6:2 | 10/6 | 93/67 |
Olsen pitched against the Astros last year, getting the win in a Sept 18 8-1 victory in which Olsen threw 7IP with 3H/1ER, 7K:1BB. Predictably, this was Olsen's third-highest game score of the year.
Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: .322/.372/.644, 12K:7BB
vs Lefties: .280/.379/.280, 8K:4BB
After First-Pitch Strikes (68): .284/.294/.522, 17K:1BB
After First-Pitch Balls (42): .406/.548/.563, 3K:10BB
RISP: 11x31, .355/.429/.548, 4K:4BB
Runners on: 19x52, .365/.411/.731, 5K:4BB
2 Outs: 16x41, .390/.444/.683
2O, RISP: 11x19, .474/.500/.789, 1K:1BB
Over his last four starts, Olsen has managed to get 10+ swinging strikes.
