Tonight's Target: Rich Harden

Arsenal: Harden throws a mid-90s fastball, a tight-breaking curve and, his unhittable out pitch, a late-breaking splitter called the "ghost pitch" (because it seems to disappear) or the "spuckle" (because it breaks as dramatically as a knuckleball). Opponents bat .164 against this pitch. Pure nastiness.

Recent Battles: Sherman through Georgia-esque. Harden only had two starts against the M's in 2006 (he was injured most of the year). In those starts, M's hitters were 5-41 with 13 Ks.

Our Best Weapon: Not Ichiro, who's got a career .136 average against Harden--only Francisco Rodriguez and Roger Clemens have done Ichiro worse. When a guy has an out pitch as nasty as Harden's, the natural thing is to swing early in the count...but if you do that, Harden's pitch count stays low, and he could last deep into the game. It will be interesting to watch how the M's attack him, especially early.

The Internet Says: Harden's high school, Claremont Secondary in Victoria, BC, contains the Claremont Sports Institute. Students enrolled in the Institute spend 80 minutes of the school day "receiving sport specific training and classroom instruction."

Rich Harden [ESPN]
Rich Harden video highlights [MLB]
Rich Harden vs. Mariner hitters [ESPN]
Claremont Sports Institute [Claremont Secondary School]