I've been saying what Rosenthall just said for awhile. He has the pedro martinez disease, a power pitcher in a little man's body. I'm not saying he will break down, but there's always that chance when considering his size. But still it was a no brainer for the astros
I love Oswalt and I'm glad the Astros gave him the extension. You look at the long list of young pitchers that were supposed to be on par, if not better, than Oswalt: Kerry Wood Mark Mulder Tim Hudson Barry Zito Mark Prior Dontrelle Willis AJ Burnett and Oswalt has been probably the most durable pitcher in terms of health and starts. He's earned his stripes and this isn't like giving him 8 years, $121 million right?
He's not that much of a freak as Pedro was... hell, Roy has semi-reinvented himself starting at the beginning of last year (when Ausmus started catching him again). He no longer strikes out guys at the rate he once did... yet still has the phenominal K/BB ratio, stellar ERA, and great WHIP. Many people here criticize him for not throwing his curveball as much... what people dont' realize was that Roy's curveball isn't really that great of a pitch. If batters know its coming, they can nail it every single time (whereas other great curves are traditionally hard to hit simply because of their movement)... the only thing that makes Roy's curveball great is his phenominal fastball control (thus making the curveball basically a changeup, due to the vast difference in speeds). Hell, he continues to re-invent himself even after he re-invents himself... see how he decided to pitch in the 2005 NLCS, against a team that has had some decent success against Oswalt in the past. He decided to adapt and go with nothing but the heat... and he burned them big time. I hate pitchers who just fall in their patterns... and when things go south, they have a hard time getting out of it. (Beckett, Burnett, Randy Johnson). Clemens adjusted his game... Pettite adjusted his to some extent... and so has Roy. Its the great ones who continue to re-invent themselves to try to stay not just better than average, but DOMINANT.
(Beckett, Burnett, Randy Johnson). -those guys decline had less to do with bad mechanics and more to do with the AL imo. Look at Becket's numbers during interleague, he dominated, but after interleague was over, he became ace ventura again. And yes size has everything to do with power, esp their legs. Look at clemen's legs compared to roy o. Leg strength has a lot to do with durability. And i agree nick about roy reinventing himself
yeah, i agree with both of you guys. 5 year deals for pitchers do stink, but the fact is, the only way we keep him is if we gave him a five year deal. nothing really wrong with the article.
randy johnson ain't in the same universe as these other 2. you are talking about the 42 year old version, i guess. but to lump him in there with those other 2...no way. guy was unhittable before he joined the yanks, and maybe my memory is failing me, but things going south for randy seemed to occur once in a blue moon over his career.
That is exactly my argument... things are going south for him now because he's refusing to think outside the box, and change up his pitching patterns. Clemens would have never survived as long as he has if he continued to try and get by with his 4 seam fastball, and wicked curveball as he did when he was a youngster. He reinvented himself to throw the fastball a little slower, but with better location and movement... and he developed the splitter (a more effective breaking pitch, with less strain on the elbow that causes injury). Randy Johnson continued with his fastball/slider regimen that is no longer effective simply because he doesn't have the zip that he once did. Sure, he was once dominant with that stuff (as Clemens once was)... but eventually there comes a time where the league will catch up to you, and you must adjust. For what the Yankees are paying him right now (and for the amount they're counting on him), that's the least he could do. Their best pitcher (Wang) is nothing but a control specialist... with excellent movement on his pitches. Adapt... re-adapt... apt -- Micheal Scott.
