Crafty Oswalt ahead of the curve
03/04/2006
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Around this time last year, Roy Oswalt decided to spend much of his spring season developing a split-fingered fastball. But in doing so, he somewhat ignored his curveball, and he paid for it later. When the regular season started, it took him a solid two months to regain a feel for what got him to the big leagues in the first place.
So this spring, Oswalt has altered his schedule. He's first going to work on his normal repertoire of pitches, and then later, he'll fiddle with the less pressing issues.
"Last year, I got to trying a few more pitches in Spring Training," he said. "I lost my feel of my curveball for the first month or two. I'm going to try to get the basics down first and make sure they're sharp, before I start on something else. Last year, I threw a split during the season in different games. Some games it worked well, some games it didn't. I may work on that toward the end of Spring Training, but I'll get my other stuff going first."
The first order of business is fastballs and curveballs. Later this month, he'll focus on his changeups and sliders. Oswalt's had only one outing this spring, but it's obvious he is sticking to his plan. He threw 19 pitches on Saturday, allowing two hits over two scoreless innings while facing seven Braves hitters.
He threw mostly curveballs and fastballs, mixed in with a slider or two to left-handed hitters.
"He just wanted to go out and throw the ball over the plate," manager Phil Garner said. "That's what he did. He didn't throw too many breaking balls. He just threw some fastballs. He got them where he wanted them."
Oswalt hasn't been officially announced as the Astros' Opening Day starter, but considering he's been in a class by himself for the last two years, Garner's decision really isn't one. Oswalt topped a phenomenal 2004 with an even better '05, posting a second consecutive 20-win season while posting a 2.94 ERA.
Oswalt also pitched the game of his life last October, when he coasted through seven innings to lead the Astros to a pennant-clinching win over the Cardinals in Game 6 of the NLCS. He threw mostly fastballs in that win, and this spring, he keeps reminding himself that what worked for him then could certainly be advantageous this year, too.
"I threw 110 pitches, and 90-95 were fastballs," he recalled. "When you throw that percentage of fastballs, usually at some point during a game they're going to start getting on you. They didn't, for seven innings. Hopefully this year, during the spring, maybe I can work on that, where I may throw more fastballs. You never know. You have to go by the feel of the game and the way you feel."
Oswalt's success is related not only to his "stuff," but his efficiency. He threw nearly 500 innings in the last two seasons, but he managed to keep his pitch counts relatively low.
When he looks to long-term goals, he tends to lean toward what he needs to do to keep his team in the game, rather than focus on wins and losses.
"It's hard to set a goal in wins," he said. "I feel if I can pitch the way I pitched the last two years, I'll be successful as far as keeping guys in the game, late into the ballgame.
"A lot of guys win or lose ballgames early in the game. A lot of guys hit their pitch count early in the game, in the sixth inning, and don't get a chance to win it in the seventh and eighth. If you keep pitching deep into ballgames, you eat up a lot of innings, and you can be successful down the road."
Without a doubt, Oswalt and Andy Pettitte will form one of the top duos among starting pitchers in the National League. After that, the rotation is somewhat suspect, with Brandon Backe filling the No. 3 role and Nos. 4 and 5 up for grabs.
Oswalt feels left-hander Carlos Hernandez is making quite a case for himself this spring, and he thinks that if Backe receives a full season of 35 starts, he'll benefit from the consistency.
Although he's only 28, Oswalt knows he's one of the elder statesmen of this starting staff. And he's accepted the responsibilities that accompany that label.
"When I came up, the older guys, you have to pick up things from them to get yourself through the season as far as how they prepare themselves and how they go about their business," he said. "You can pick up things like that, from guys who have been here a while."
Source: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Around this time last year, Roy Oswalt decided to spend much of his spring season developing a split-fingered fastball. But in doing so, he somewhat ignored his curveball, and he paid for it later. When the regular season started, it took him a solid two months to regain a feel for what got him to the big leagues in the first place.
So this spring, Oswalt has altered his schedule. He's first going to work on his normal repertoire of pitches, and then later, he'll fiddle with the less pressing issues.
"Last year, I got to trying a few more pitches in Spring Training," he said. "I lost my feel of my curveball for the first month or two. I'm going to try to get the basics down first and make sure they're sharp, before I start on something else. Last year, I threw a split during the season in different games. Some games it worked well, some games it didn't. I may work on that toward the end of Spring Training, but I'll get my other stuff going first."
The first order of business is fastballs and curveballs. Later this month, he'll focus on his changeups and sliders. Oswalt's had only one outing this spring, but it's obvious he is sticking to his plan. He threw 19 pitches on Saturday, allowing two hits over two scoreless innings while facing seven Braves hitters.
He threw mostly curveballs and fastballs, mixed in with a slider or two to left-handed hitters.
"He just wanted to go out and throw the ball over the plate," manager Phil Garner said. "That's what he did. He didn't throw too many breaking balls. He just threw some fastballs. He got them where he wanted them."
Oswalt hasn't been officially announced as the Astros' Opening Day starter, but considering he's been in a class by himself for the last two years, Garner's decision really isn't one. Oswalt topped a phenomenal 2004 with an even better '05, posting a second consecutive 20-win season while posting a 2.94 ERA.
Oswalt also pitched the game of his life last October, when he coasted through seven innings to lead the Astros to a pennant-clinching win over the Cardinals in Game 6 of the NLCS. He threw mostly fastballs in that win, and this spring, he keeps reminding himself that what worked for him then could certainly be advantageous this year, too.
"I threw 110 pitches, and 90-95 were fastballs," he recalled. "When you throw that percentage of fastballs, usually at some point during a game they're going to start getting on you. They didn't, for seven innings. Hopefully this year, during the spring, maybe I can work on that, where I may throw more fastballs. You never know. You have to go by the feel of the game and the way you feel."
Oswalt's success is related not only to his "stuff," but his efficiency. He threw nearly 500 innings in the last two seasons, but he managed to keep his pitch counts relatively low.
When he looks to long-term goals, he tends to lean toward what he needs to do to keep his team in the game, rather than focus on wins and losses.
"It's hard to set a goal in wins," he said. "I feel if I can pitch the way I pitched the last two years, I'll be successful as far as keeping guys in the game, late into the ballgame.
"A lot of guys win or lose ballgames early in the game. A lot of guys hit their pitch count early in the game, in the sixth inning, and don't get a chance to win it in the seventh and eighth. If you keep pitching deep into ballgames, you eat up a lot of innings, and you can be successful down the road."
Without a doubt, Oswalt and Andy Pettitte will form one of the top duos among starting pitchers in the National League. After that, the rotation is somewhat suspect, with Brandon Backe filling the No. 3 role and Nos. 4 and 5 up for grabs.
Oswalt feels left-hander Carlos Hernandez is making quite a case for himself this spring, and he thinks that if Backe receives a full season of 35 starts, he'll benefit from the consistency.
Although he's only 28, Oswalt knows he's one of the elder statesmen of this starting staff. And he's accepted the responsibilities that accompany that label.
"When I came up, the older guys, you have to pick up things from them to get yourself through the season as far as how they prepare themselves and how they go about their business," he said. "You can pick up things like that, from guys who have been here a while."
Source: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/
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