Roy Oswalt was one of the best when he was in his prime, but then his prime ended, as did his health and effectiveness. Now he’s calling it quits:
Oswalt had said earlier this winter that he had wanted to pitch this year, but no one was biting. And, frankly, that’s understandable. Oswalt had an 8.63 ERA in six starts and three relief appearances in 2013 after posting a 5.80 ERA in nine starts and eight relief appearances with the Rangers in 2012. His velocity was down and people were hitting line drives off him.
All-Star pitcher Roy Oswalt has decided to retire, and plans to work with his agent, Bob Garber. 163 wins, 102 losses.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 11, 2014
Oswalt had said earlier this winter that he had wanted to pitch this year, but no one was biting. And, frankly, that’s understandable. Oswalt had an 8.63 ERA in six starts and three relief appearances in 2013 after posting a 5.80 ERA in nine starts and eight relief appearances with the Rangers in 2012. His velocity was down and people were hitting line drives off him.
But before he lost it he was a wonderful pitcher, of course. He finishes his career with a 163-102 record, a 3.36 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 1,852/520 over 2,245.1 innings in 13 seasons. He had 150 wins through his first ten seasons and looked slated for the Hall of Fame.
For both good and for bad, I’ll probably think of him as the pitching Dale Murphy. Not as good as Murphy at his peak, of course, but up there. Just one of the best. And then the unfortunate premature falloff.
