It's early (second inning) and there's a lot of baseball left to be played (and stories for me to write), but I just wanted to drop some early scouting from the press box on Pedro Martinez's first Phils start and first major league game since September.

-His velocity looks legit. According to MLB's Gameday, he just touched 92 miles per hour.

-What makes that velocity even better is Martinez has a very good changeup. The separation between fastball and changeup is key.

Just look at the three-pitch at-bat against Alfonso Soriano: 89 mile-per-hour fastball, 79-mph changeup and 77 mph-chnageup. Three pitches, one very quick out.


-In his second to last minor league start, Martinez said he was struggling while pitching out of the stretch. He's looked OK at Wrigley.

In the first, he erased a two-out double by ending the inning with a strikeout of Cubs cleanup hitter Jake Fox. In the second, he pitched with runners on base after a leadoff double and limited the damage, racking up two more strikeouts.