Long before Roy Oswalt was pulled in the third inning of last night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, it was apparent that the Oswalt experiment was a mistake. After finding few takers this offseason, Oswalt chose to rest for half a year and shop his services at midseason, just like Roger Clemens did for two seasons at the end of his career.
On the surface, it seemed like a solid idea. Oswalt’s back would be better with time off, and it certainly stood to reason that what Clemens could do at 44 years old, Oswalt could do a decade younger. But despite the time off, and his relative youth, velocities that are unchanged from last year in Philadelphia, and the best strikeout to walk ratio since his rookie season, Roy Oswalt has been getting absolutely lit up, allowing a homer for every five innings he’s tossed.
Meanwhile, at 50 years old, Roger Clemens has thrown eight scoreless innings in the Atlantic League on a whim. And despite the angry vitriol from some writers suggesting that he’s poised to make a cynical appearance for the Astros to increase his chances of making the Hall of Fame, it’s fairly clear that he won’t be allowed to join Houston before the season ends in three weeks.
