What Should The Colorado Rockies Do With Roy Oswalt?

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Besides think happy thoughts, of course.

There has been more bad than good with the Roy Oswalt experiment in 2013. One need look no further than his stats on the season, even in limited appearances, to understand how much he has struggled: 0-5, 8.57 ERA, and a 1.76 WHIP. He has surrendered 20 earned runs in 21 innings. At first he was the guy the Rockies were hoping could fortify the back of the rotation; now he is another guy auditioning for a Major League spot next season, with the Rockies or otherwise. In each phase he has been an ineffective pitcher, lacking the zip or command of his pitches to consistently get big league hitters out.

So now what should the Colorado Rockies do? After his disastrous outing against the San Diego Padres yesterday in which he was charged with five earned runs, we might be inclined to think the Rockies should just call it now and give up on Oswalt. But really, with the team out of the race and scrapping together the 5th spot in the rotation anyway, why not run him out there a couple more times to see how he does? Sure, it will be tough to watch if he gets shelled a couple more times, but it will also allow the Rockies to definitively check him off the list and move on.

And if he pitches well? Are you really prepared to say he wouldn’t be an upgrade over the usual suspects the Rockies add each off-season for the back of the rotation? You very well might be, but you at least have to think about it first. Sometimes the Rockies are too committed to going through a long process when evaluating its players, but things are a bit different in Oswalt’s case. The team can afford to let the evaluation process play out this month by taking a couple more looks at Oswalt, and they are in a position where they should do just that.

What should the Colorado Rockies do with Roy Oswalt? Give him a couple more chances as a long shot candidate for next year’s rotation, and then most likely thank him for his efforts this season and wish him well.