The word "frustrating" has been spreading across the Phillies community like wild fire as of late. Cliff Lee walking more batters than ever before is frustrating, Wilson Valdez batting second in a major league lineup is frustrating, injuries to [insert player] are frustrating, not winning is frustrating. Best Buy in South Philly has reported a rise in requests for replacement remote controls.
After Saturday's loss it was "well at least we have Halladay Sunday" and after Sunday's loss it was "at least we have Cliff Monday" and after Monday's loss we figured "well at least Oswalt is returning to the rotation." But did you see his rehab start last Thursday? Even that was frustrating.
Instead of Oswalt cruising through a Single-A lineup, he struggled to find his stuff. His velocity was way down. And now he's pitching for the Phils tonight, clearly not at full Roy Oswalt levels.
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From beat writer David Hale:
And now, five days later, the Phillies are willing to roll the dice
with the 33-year-old righty against Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and
Lance Berkman.
“It should be interesting,” Oswalt said.
Ahh, we needed that confidence boost.
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To be fair, Roy's just being honest. He knows he's not fully back, but the team needs him to start. He'll (hopefully) throw his 70-75 pitches and make way for the semi-rested pen.
But it'll be interesting. Much like the Phillies run of games as of late. But certainly not like their offense. They're just boring lately.
Oh, and they're facing Jaime Garcia who only has the third best ERA in the NL (5-0, 1.89).
Should be interesting.