Wandy Rodriguez makes his Pirates debut Saturday at 7:05 (Eastern) as the Pirates try to continue to beat Rodriguez' former team, the Astros.
The Astros traded Rodriguez to the Pirates earlier in the week for prospects Robbie Grossman, Rudy Owens and Colton Cain. He's expected to bring stability to their rotation, providing a strong veteran arm behind James McDonald and A.J. Burnett.
Rodriguez throws a fastball, curve and change. His fastball isn't an impressive-looking pitch, typically coming in at around 89 MPH, but his curveball is nasty at times.
Rodriguez pitched 130.2 innings with the Astros this year, striking out 89 batters and walking 32. His strikeouts are down somewhat this year, but he's helping make up for that with better control than he's had in the past.
Starting opposite Rodriguez -- and taking his place in the Astros rotation, actually -- is Armando Galarraga, who had nine starts with Houston's Class AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City this season.
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