This past offseason, Astros fans heard quite often that our starting pitching would be a worrisome aspect of our club. Thirteen games in, the rotation has a total of two wins to show for it's otherwise competent work. For instance, every Astro starter has at least one quality start, except for one. Roy Oswalt has started his ninth major league season with an 0-3 record a 9.00 ERA. He has made no admissions about an injury being the cause (although he was hit with a batted ball in his first start against the Padres), and his fastball has been consistently around 93-94 MPH. Oswalt wondered openly whether or not he was tipping his pitches in last Friday’s loss to Florida. Whatever the case may be, Astros fans, Fantasy owners and the team itself are searching for reasons why one of the most consistent pitchers in the game has struggled to open the season.
For the past few years, writers and broadcasters have come to the conclusion that Roy Oswalt just doesn’t throw that hard anymore. Opinions differed as to whether this was due to declining skills or because he simply changed his philosophy, but this theory was becoming more entrenched in the baseball community. However, looking at his pitches from 2007, seem to indicate that he's still throwing hard. Looking at his average numbers should give 'Stros fans and fantasy owners a like a ray of hope, given that his pitches speeds (hopefully he gets his location down or discerns whether or not he was tipping his pitches) were in line with his 2007 averages, and 2007 was certainly a very effective year for Roy.
When looking at his career numbers...
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