The Rockies have acquired Triple-A right-hander Corey Oswalt from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb (via Twitter).
Oswalt was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round of the June draft back in 2012. He worked his way through the system and made his Major League debut with New York back in 2018 as a 24-year-old. By the time he made his debut, he was the Mets’ 16th-ranked prospect, per Baseball America.
He made 12 starts and five relief appearances en route to totaling 64 2/3 innings in his rookie season, but only received spot time in the bigs since then, never making more than a handful of appearances. He did, however, appear in each of the last four campaigns with the Mets, and they remain the only professional organization he has appeared with in the bigs. In total, Oswalt owns a 5.89 ERA/5.39 FIP at the game’s highest level.
He started this season with the Giants Triple-A affiliate before the Phillies purchased his contract. Between the two clubs, the now-28-year-old Oswalt posted a 6.11 ERA over 35 1/3 innings. With the Rockies, he should have a clearer path to Major League innings.
One team’s trash is another team’s garbage. I’m not really sure what Colorado sees in him. Beyond his high AAA ERA, his peripherals are not good either. Strange transaction to make if you ask me. Maybe he’s been unlucky? That’s all I can think of as a reason to acquire him, even just for cash.
A .355 batting average on balls in play indicates some bad luck, but the fact still remains he has a sub-15% K-rate and walk rate just a few ticks under 10%. At best, he should be an upper-4’s to low-5’s ERA pitcher rather than a mid-5’s ERA pitcher this year.
This is the one move the Rockies had to make to guarantee a winning season and the playoffs. Management has been outstanding this year and the team is guaranteed to be in the world series now that this trade has been made. Hope we keep our general manager
It was a needed depth starter at AAA for a team that just put a starter on the IL for an indefinite period of time. I doubt the “cash considerations” would even pay for a fast food value meal. A lot of the time this type of deal is for like a buck.
i bet roy is proud
you think Roy called around behind the scenes askin for favors?
Roy doesn’t ask for favors. He had the Rockies GM by the nuts and twisted hard.
(Yeah, we all know Roy’s not related.)
Too bad Corey didn’t win Rookie of the Year honors. Then he literally could’ve been ROY Oswalt.
He’s generally been a decent arm to keep as depth. Oswalt usually avoids walking so many batters.
Corey Oswalt #ForeverPhillie
I feel bad for the wasted time that went in to writing this article.
Obviously, he’s a guy that some people at the major league level think may have earned the opportunity that presents itself in the Rockies organization at no cost to anyone and the organization being in need of arms. Let’s face it – most of us could not survive pitching at single A level, so he must be able to get some major league hitters out part of the time. Thus is the life of the journeyman ball player almost good enough. They don’t get any headlines, but you have to put someone out on the mound.
Maybe Bud Black, Darryl Scott and Reid Cornelius can unlock the big leaguer in Oswalt. They got Daniel Bard back to the bigs after 7 years away. If nothing else, it’s worth a try.