New Arms of the Week: Roster Expansion Bumper Crop

Nine rookie debuts marked the first six days of September.

Carrasco and Davis made their debuts as starters, while the rest came out of the bullpen.

A few observations, based on the limited samples:

• Carrasco was signed by the Phillies as a 16-year old. He moved to Cleveland in the deal that sent Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philadelphia. His first outing was rough, as he was hit hard and had some trouble finding the zone.
  
• Garate was a well regarded relief prospect in the Dodgers' system. Washington received Garate in the Ronnie Belliard trade and was quickly given a shot at the big time. Doesn't throw hard, but threw plenty of strikes in his debut.
• Kilby is a big lefty, and was effective in his debut despite not throwing a lot of strikes. His minor league numbers indicate a tendency to give up fly balls, but not a lot of home runs. We'll see how that plays if he sticks around.
• Davis is my favorite of the batch. He took Scott Kazmir's job in Tampa and made a nice first impression. His stuff looks pretty good, and he threw strikes and missed bats. And he struck out the first four batters he faced.
• Hughes came in Sunday for KC when Luke Hochevar was yanked in the fourth inning. Unless B-R is out of date, Hughes is not your typical lefty in terms of body type, unless Danny Herrera is your template.
• Marte got into the same game as Hughes, working in out of trouble in the ninth. He threw plenty of off-speed and breaking stuff, but his fastball was electric. Results of the high-90s heater: four balls, a called strike and a single.
• Runzler is big southpaw who throws a high-90s sinker. The Giants have used him in two quick outings, and could be an effective LOOGY for the stretch run.
  
• Dunn is the pitcher being taken out by Joe Girardi in the photo. Yet another lefty, also of the power variety, this rookie couldn't find the strike zone. 19 pitches, 13 missed the zone.
  
• Hudson was called-up by the White Sox suddenly, as the news was delivered after three shutout innings in his last start for Charlotte. In a couple innings of work, Hudson is yet to give up a hit, or get a swinging strike. He is pounding the strike zone, so far.
  

We'll see if this week's batch cracks double digits.