Phillies pick up veteran pitcher with starting experience from Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
In need of extra options to potentially serve as a spot starter or long reliever in 2022, the Phillies acquired veteran pitcher Corey Oswalt from the San Francisco Giants and assigned him to Triple A Lehigh Valley, according to the IronPigs' transactions page.
Oswalt, 28, appeared in 26 games for the Mets from 2018-21, starting 14. The 6-foot-5 right-hander had a 4.81 ERA in those starts, three of them coming against the Phillies his rookie year. Oswalt (no relation to Roy and a different pronunciation) faced the Phils last June in relief and pitched four scoreless innings.
He had been with the Giants' Triple A affiliate in Sacramento and had a 7.11 ERA in six appearances (one start) with 17 strikeouts and six home runs allowed in 12⅔ innings.
The Phillies do not have many options to start games or provide length beyond their five-man rotation of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Kyle Gibson and Zach Eflin. Wheeler and Eflin are currently on the COVID-related injured list. The only options the Phillies have on the 40-man roster to spot start in their place are lefties Cristopher Sanchez and Bailey Falter, who were each sent to Triple A recently to stretch out as starters. Sanchez started the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Mets and threw 51 pitches. Falter has started two games at Triple A and topped out 40 pitches over three innings.
The Phillies will need to figure out who starts Wednesday in Wheeler's place and Friday for Eflin.
