Roy Oswalt's plan after signing with the Texas Rangers back on May 29 was to make four minor-league starts before joining the big-league club on June 22 for his first start against the Colorado Rockies.
As far as we know, that's the still the plan, but Oswalt's minor-league starts aren't going the way he really wanted. True, you can't put too much into results of big-league guys preparing themselves down in the minors, either in the case of Oswalt or in a pitcher coming off the disabled list and rehabbing.
For instance, in his start previous to Tuesday's, Oswalt was just pumping fastballs and got pounded as he was trying to work up his arm strength. But on Tuesday, Oswalt wanted to get his pitch count up and try to go deep into a game, making a start in Frisco with the Roughriders. He got it up around 90, but he only lasted into the fourth inning as he gave up five hits and three earned runs.
"Breaking pitches weren't there tonight," Oswalt told ESPNDallas. "Couldn't get my curveball over, and my slider was kind of flat. The biggest thing is getting the pitch count up. We got up to around 90 pitches, but it was a little quicker than I wanted it to be."
If his plan is still on course, he'll make one more start on Sunday with Triple-A Round Rock before heading to Arlington to make his Rangers debut.
