• March 28, 2024

Back Injury Puts Oswalt’s Season In Doubt

After being pulled from his most recent start with back pain, there are serious questions about Roy Oswalt’s future with the team. The righthander will have an MRI on Monday to determine just how bad his back injury has gotten, and how long he’ll need to be sidelined for.

Oswalt has been in pain for sometime now, and may have reached the point where he can’t pitch effectively anymore. He has struggled to keep the velocity of his fastball up, and he has had trouble with his location. He has received a number of cortisone shots over the years to treat his back, but he doesn’t feel as though receiving another one would do him any good.

Oswalt didn’t offer any encouraging words after Thursday’s game.

“You throw as long as you can and when you can’t throw anymore you don’t, hopefully it’s not to the point where I can’t throw anymore. If it’s at that point, you just have to accept it.”

The former All-Star is talking as though he may have thrown his last pitch. Oswalt doesn’t know when he’ll pitch again, if he pitches at all. He said that he played through the pain because he didn’t want to be labeled as a quitter, but he realized after his most recent start that he can’t help the team in his current condition.

If the Phillies were to lose Oswalt for an extended period of time, it would be a serious blow to the team. They have invested all of their hopes for the season in the idea that their elite starting rotation will be able to carry them and overcome their offensive weaknesses.

The Phillies don’t have many options for replacing Oswalt. With almost no payroll flexibility, they won’t be adding another ace before the trade deadline this year. If Joe Blanton can come back from his elbow injury, he could become an important piece of the rotation. Kyle Kendrick will rejoin the rotation for the time being, but he hasn’t proven to be anything more than an adequate fifth starter.

The Phillies still hope that Oswalt will be able to come back strong this season. Regardless of what happens with the MRI on Monday, it’s likely that Oswalt will be shut down for awhile. Right now it’s important that the Phillies do everything they can to make it so the veteran can return to help the team later in the season, and make one last push at a World Series ring.

Denny Basens

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hot97x
hot97x
June 24, 2011 10:41 am

more consequences of the disastrous handling of the 25 man roster by Ruben Amaro. as he has done all year, he’s letting guys rush themselves back as if this team has to win 110 games or the season is a failure. Contreras came back too soon, everyone and their grandmother knew Oswalt wasn’t 100% when he came back, and yet they let him or even worse encouraged him to come back early. Blanton came back too early. everyone is being rushed back.

he’s done the same thing many times already this year where he carries a guy on the bench for 8 days before just placing them on the DL. it’s asinine. the only thing that matters is that you make the playoffs, and that you are as healthy as can be when you get there. Amaro is seriously putting this team’s hopes in jeopardy by rushing these guys back and hoping they can recover from injuries in 4 or 5 days instead of just DL’ing them and making sure they are 100%.

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 10:53 am

Another waste of a roster move by Amaro. We all knew this guy was damaged goods & talking retirement before we got him. Ever since Amaro didn’t keep Lee the first time, set into motion, a chain of events, that we all know could have been avoided. We could have had Halladay, Lee, Hamels. We would have never lost Happ & the other prospects, & the money they gave to Oswalt could of went to Werth. If anybody believes the verbal diarrhea that Amaro say’s about needing prospects for the organization, & we couldn’t of had both Halladay & Lee last year is a dope & has to stop drinking the Kool Aid. If that was true, why did he practically admit his mistake by not keeping Lee, & then go out & get Oswalt last year, & then resign Lee back this year. Amaro is a lying dope, that’s living off the team that was made by Wade & Gillick. I said it before, & i’ll say it again, “He has done nothing to better this team since Gillick retired.

hot97x
hot97x
June 24, 2011 11:07 am

in Amaro’s defense on the whole Lee trade, i truly believe that Dave Montgomery and the others were not going to let Ruben keep both Lee and Halladay. I don’t think it was his choice to trade Lee, i think they told him one or the other, that they didn’t want 2 $20 million/year pitchers at that time. granted Lee was only making $9 million last year but they knew it would take a ton of money to resign him. so Amaro figured he could get Halladay for cheaper because he wanted to win, which he was right about. once they realized that they were struggling last year they said F it and went after Oswalt. then once they lost in the playoffs, they did it again with Lee.

as far as Happ, i would rather have Phillipe Aumont who we got back for Lee. Aumont is a future closer. Happ is forever a #5 guy.

hot97x
hot97x
June 24, 2011 11:11 am

and you would have rather spent that money on werth? really? if we gave werth what washington gave him, i would have flipped. he’s worth literally about half of what he got. and apparently him trading for Halladay and then getting him to sign a well below market value contract doesn’t count as Amaro doing anything to help this team win? i don’t love the guy, he does some dumb stuff, but you can’t say he’s done nothing to help this team win.

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 11:13 am

He gets this rep of being a great young GM. He has done balls to better this team, since the World Series. They lost Burrell & Werth, & replaced them with an outfield full of turds (except Victorino), the team is full of AARP members at positions with ZERO prospects in sight (Dom Brown BLOWS), no bench or bullpen. They got lucky with Stutes (unknown to everybody before the year), Bastardo (couldn’t throw a strike consistently last year), Madsen (Blew 60% of his prior seasons saves). Also the entire medical staff & trainers need to be fired. Playing players knowing they are hurt ala- Lidge in spring training, Blanton, Contreras, Oswalt, Victorino pinch bunting knowing he’s going on the DL, allowing Utley to dictate things with his hip, hand & knee injuries the last 3 years etc, etc. WTF are these a**hole$ doing? How this team is still in 1st is mind boggling õïO

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 11:34 am

Werth, already said if the Phillies would have offered him a lesser contract, which they offered zero, he would stayed. So that statement is moot. They could of had Lee & Werth. As for the AARP & GERITOL owners not wanting 2, $20 million pitchers is BS also, because why do they have them now. Like I said, “This whole s#!t storm, is Amaro stupidity, & nothing else”. We are too old, & hamstrung by horrific, unnecessary, untradable contracts, that should have never been given (Howard-$25 M, Blanton-$8.5M, Lidge, Baez-$3.5, Romero, etc, etc). This makes me angry.

BirdoBeamen
BirdoBeamen
June 24, 2011 12:03 pm

DDCAR, you are the most ridiculous poster on this site. STFU. You sound dumber and dumber with every post.

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 2:37 pm

How am I the most ridiculous poster & how do I sound dumb? Because I speak the truth & you don’t agree with me. Just because they are in 1st doesn’t exclude Amaro from warranted criticism. Hey BB, GFY! Get a clue, Jer#off!

hot97x
hot97x
June 24, 2011 5:19 pm

i have never heard Werth say that, can you show me? as far as i know the phillies did offer him a 5 year $80 million contract, and he took the money. good for him, but he’s not worth anything close to what he’s making, and he’s probably not worth the 5 years $80 million that he turned down. Amaro is lacking in alot of areas, especially the contracts that he gives out. but you are WAY over the top with your criticism. and the fact that you say Dom Brown “BLOWS” shows that you are being irrational. he’s basically a rookie, getting his first steady playing time at the majors. young guys go thru struggles.

and stop with the losing Burrel and Werth. Werth he had no chance to sign for reasonable money, and who gives a F about Pat Burrell? are you serious? i can’t stand Ibanez and he has been better than Pat the past 2 and a half years. you sound like an idiot. and they couldn’t have EVER had Lee and Werth. they are like $6 million from the luxury tax. you think Werth was signing for less than $6 million this year?

i already explained why they have 2 $20 million pitchers now. they thought they could get to another world series with just replacing Lee with Halladay. once they struggled mid season they got Oswalt. once they still didn’t make the World Series they got Lee. what aren’t you following here? they were trying to make it back to the World Series by spending the minimum. when they couldn’t do that, they gave in and went after it.

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 9:34 pm

Hot97x, Maybe I am being irrational, but when your trying to win a World Series, you cannot go into a season with the slop they have in the outfield. Dom Brown is another of a long line of overrated players. He is stinks. He’s hitting under 200 now. Give me a break. Also Werth said 2 or 3 times last year that the Phillies didn’t even offer him a contract. I’m not an idiot that just makes s#!t up, nor am I a know it all. In the off season Amaro admittedly said he was going in a different direction. He has done a piss poor job replacing guys that left. Everybody forgets the power & leadership they lost when Burrell left. He was very well loved in the locker room. I worked for the Phils for 15 years, so I know. Also how can you say who gives a F about Burrell. I guess you love the Ibanez replacement. No I would not have given Werth the money he got, but if Amaro didn’t make so many piss poor decisions & ridiculous contract signings we wouldn’t be having the luxury tax discussion, would we?

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 9:57 pm

I agree Werth isn’t worth what he got, but my criticisms are that Amaro replaced him & Burrell with crap. How do you feel about Ibanez, who had 3 good months, for the money he was given, & the combination of Francisco, Brown, Mayberry, Martinez & Gload, is a mind boggling, cruel, joke. Also BTW before you call someone an idiot, get your facts correct. I do not like Amaro, because he gets all of this credit as a golden boy, & he doesn’t deserve it. What has he done besides Halladay. Also why wouldn’t Halladay take less to come here, we just won a the World Series & he was in baseball purgatory, in Toronto. Also like I said Lee should of never been traded last year when he was still under contract for a year for $9 million. Stupid mistake made, that Amaro admitted to by resigning him. What am I missing & not seeing or understanding!?

hot97x
hot97x
June 24, 2011 10:58 pm

your missing every single point. Ibanez has OUTPERFORMED Burrell in the last 2 and a half years. and that’s not saying much, but its a fact nonetheless. what about domonic brown makes him overrated? the fact that every scouting publication in the world had him as a top 5 prospect in baseball? it’s not like the phillies were just hyping him up, everybody has. and for good reason. he only started focusing on baseball after high school. he was offered a scholarship by the University of Miami to play WR. he is a young guy. he’s going to struggle. im not sure what there is to not understand here. he’s a potential 5 tool player. it’s no different than Jason Heyward hitting in the low .200’s this year, but he’s still a very promising young player, with future all-star potential.

you keep coming back to Burrell and Werth, but they are hitting .230 and .237 right now. so with Burrell and Werth out there the outfield would still be performing like crap. furthermore, yes the phillies didn’t offer Werth a contract during the season last year, but they did offer him one in the offseason, which he turned down.

the reason Lee was traded was because the ownership didn’t want the fans getting used to Halladay and Lee in the same rotation knowing (at the time), that they’d never be able to re-sign him after last year. obviously they were wrong, and i totally agree that they should have never traded Lee. im just not sure that it was Amaro’s decision. i believe it was forced on him.

you presume that i love Ibanez as a replacement which i already said i can’t stand him. but you have an irrational love for Pat Burrell who was garbage his first year after he left, then couldn’t even make a team last spring and finally caught on with the giants and played OK. and this year is pretty much garbage again.

DDCar
DDCar
June 24, 2011 11:23 pm

Your missing the point! I don’t have an irrational love for Burrell or Werth! Amaro replaced them with garbage! What don’t you f^@#ing get? Dom Brown stinks right now. He is not ready & may never be, IDK. My point is Amaro’s piss poor roster moves. They cannot be defended. Why are we even arguing about this? It’s f^@#ing ridiculous! Your logic is mind boggling, you agree with me on one hand & arguing with the other.. òO Maybe I had a long week or something… JEEZ!!!

hot97x
hot97x
June 25, 2011 10:47 am

im not missing the point. you claim he has replaced Burrell with garbage. im telling you that Ibanez wasn’t a downgrade. at worst it was a lateral move. that’s why i don’t understand what you are complaining about. Burrell hasn’t played any better than Ibanez since he left. are you understanding?

and Werth he had no chance to sign. he offered him more than a fair offer in the off-season, Werth got a much better offer from Washington, and he took that. Washington overpaid for him, by ALOT. and so far this year, Werth isn’t playing much better than the “garbage” that you claim he was replaced with.

as far as Dom Brown, i don’t really know what else to tell you. if your someone who has no patience for young talented players, then there’s nothing to say. this is his first steady time at the majors. if you thought he was going to tear it up all year then your expectations were too high. his numbers are bad. what i see is a guy that has smoked the ball at every level. who right now gives this team the 2nd or 3rd best at bats of everyone in the lineup. his results aren’t there yet. but for a guy that is as green as he is, with a high skill level, that so far walks (13) almost as much as he strikes out (14), that’s very promising to me.

DDCar
DDCar
June 25, 2011 1:08 pm

Dude, you gotta be the most stubborn person I ever talked to. When your trying to win a World Series, you don’t have time to baby sit a guy who is not ready. Brown should have never been brought up the end of last year, & buried on the bench, when he wasn’t ready for MLB. He needed to get valuable playing time in AAA. Then they sent him to Winter ball, where he couldn’t get a hit & was benched. Then they rushed him up again this year, when he should have started in AAA. He’s not ready & may never be. He stinks right now. You say it was a lateral move with Ibanez. He is older than Burrell, not as good as an outfielder as Burrell, their Avg., Hrs. & Rbi’s are about even, but Ibanez got paid a ridiculous contract. WTF, are you talking about. You do not know what you are talking about. This is my final comment on the matter, because your insane. Have a nice weekend.

hot97x
hot97x
June 25, 2011 6:06 pm

see now you are using too different arguments. Burrell is not a better fielder than Ibanez, they are both horrendous. your saying because Ibanez got paid $11 million a year, that makes him a downgrade? you originally stated that Ibanez wasn’t as good as Burrell. now your argument has changed basically to, for the money, Burrell is a better value. if you want to argue that then that’s fine. because i can argue the same thing for Brown. he’s making $400,000 this year compared to Werth making what, $18 million. what’s the better value there? do you actually watch Brown’s at bats? im not sure you totally understand how young players are evaluated. this is how you evaluate prospects, not just by numbers, but by tools and projection. Domonic Brown proved twice that AAA is no challenge to him. you don’t just stash him there because your trying to win a world series. you bring him up now so hopefully come playoff time, he starts realizing some of his MASSIVE potential.

really the only thing the argument comes down to is, how much better are the players you wanted here (Burrell and Werth) playing right now than Ibanez and Brown? the answer is very marginal. so again, im not sure what your so incensed about.

DDCar
DDCar
June 25, 2011 10:56 pm

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.
Clueless.

hot97x
hot97x
June 26, 2011 7:47 pm

you must be referring to your own replies. i’ve explained everything in enough detail that a 10 year old can understand. all you have done is complain incessantly and change your argument when i’ve proven you wrong.

DDCar
DDCar
June 28, 2011 1:22 am

You have proven nothing other that, you do not know what your talking about.

hot97x
hot97x
June 28, 2011 7:21 pm

actually i’ve proven that Werth and Burrell haven’t significantly outperformed Ibanez and Brown which makes your point, well, pointless doesn’t it?