As part of a weeklong series, the bloggers of Philthy Stuff will be explaining their favorite guys in red pinstripes.
He has never had a losing season and amongst active hurlers he is ninth in wins (153), seventh in strikeouts (1,687), third in winning percentage (.648-percent), second in ERA (3.16) and second in WHIP (1.180).
No, it’s not BIG Roy Halladay but rather LITTLE Roy Oswalt.
I love Roy Halladay and have for nearly a decade but in the past nine months Oswalt has stolen my admiration.
The Phillies No. 3 ace basically is in the Top 10 of every major pitching category around yet has played second (or third fiddle) to guys like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Cliff Lee and Halladay for most of his career. (And please don't give me the Opening Day starter argument because let's be honest was Brett Myers really ever the Phils' No. 1?)
Maybe Oswalt is just perfectly OK with flying under the radar. At 6-foot, 190-pounds the righty isn’t imposing on the mound but since he has come to the Phils last July he has been amongst the best pitchers in baseball.
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Just look at the stats (care of Philly.com’s Matt Gelb) for his first 16 starts with the Phightins:
His ERA in starts as a Phillie is 1.70.
His worst start was his first one, which happened 24 hours after he was traded to the Phillies but still took his turn in the rotation having barely met his new teammates.
Since then, he has kept the Phillies in every single game he's pitched, allowing two or fewer runs in 13 of his 16 starts.
As for his record with the Phightins? Oswalt is 10-1 (3-0 this season).
Even Lee and Halladay can’t claim that.
But despite the stats, my favorite part of Oswalt is his nonchalance on the field. The guy throws flames up to the plate all the while looking like he would just as well be fishing or shopping at Home Depot.
And his stare comes off as a mix of angry and humble -- gotta love that.
Oswalt is a man’s man on a team of guy’s guys.
So here’s to you Roy. And guess what, keep up quality start after quality start -- he is 4-for-4 so far in 2011 -- and maybe he can finally add Cy Young Award winner to his already impressive resume.
