by Minoso Express » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:38 am
Here is Oswalt in Petco:
20-10, 287 IP, 310 H, 122 R, 111 ER, 64 BB, 170 SO, 25 HR, 3.48 ERA, 1.30 WHIP
On the same staff, Jon Garland was a 19-game winner and Smoltz was a 17-game winner. There was no lights-out closer on this team (Reitsma and Putz shared duties and especially Reitsma did surprisingly well, with 24 saves and a 1.16 WHIP), so the starters really carried the burden.
There was decent, but not spectacular, defense behind him: Grudzielanek-- often hurt, so Weeks or Mackowiak played 2B a fair amount; Jeter at SS; Sizemore in CF.
The team struggled at times but Oswalt rarely did. He would have won more had the team as a whole performed slightly better.
So I'd say he was worth every penny in this instance.