The Colorado Rockies added a three-time All-Star veteran pitcher to the organization by signing a minor-league deal with Roy Oswalt on Thursday.
Roy Oswalt is a well-regarded name in baseball circles who hasn’t had great success since his initial deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010. Three years later, he is looking for a job and the Rockies will give him a look. Taking extended spring training, he will have to prove he can be effective and maintain control. He has had back problems since 2011 and experienced elbow soreness last fall.
Roy Oswalt is 163-96, including a 4-3 record last season in spot starts with the Rangers. His career 3.28 ERA looks nice until compared with his 5.80 ERA from last season.
Maybe he can return to form with the Rockies and get a shot. As of now, the Rockies rotation is chugging along well enough, but Juan Nicasio and Jeff Francis have struggled in their outings and have the highest WHIP of the rotation (1.53 and 1.95 respectively). Francis is 1-2 but has a higher salary, and Nicasio’s outings (3-0) could be described as inefficient: high-pitch-count innings and plenty of walks. It is hard to deny that Tyler Chatwood is making a strong case to remain in the rotation once Jhoulys Chacin returns from the DL. Someone will have to move either way, but it won’t be Roy Oswalt taking any jobs.
Roy Oswalt’s contribution will be a wait-and-see situation. He won’t be receive a call to come up without an injury befalling someone first. It is nice to have an all-star caliber pitcher in the organization, but he won’t be a factor anytime soon, hopefully.
