Clack wrote:
Roy Oswalt had zero strike outs today.

I'd be curious to here the Wizard's own take on this. We all know he is pitching to contact. Maybe that should be re-evaluated with the decline in our defense at the hands of Lee, Tejada, and Wigginton. If you take the conversation and put in Chris Sampson's name the debate becomes more about the defense behind him since he isn't going to be striking people out. Wouldn't the same apply to Roy here? If he is pitching to contact he is going to rely a lot more on the defense to come up with plays to get him out of trouble or just make routine plays (which don't include jettisoning the ball into the bleachers on a throw to the first baseman).


Pitching to contact was supposed to be about letting Roy pitch deeper into games, but at what cost? Whether he is hurting or not, I think this is still relevant and something to take into consideration.


Edit: I went a bit further and took a look at Roy's K rate over the last few years, which has been declining steadily since '02.

2002 - 32% K rate
2003 - 29% K rate
2004 - 23% K rate
2005 - 20% K rate
2006 - 20% K rate
2007 - 18% K rate

These numbers are rounded up. I didn't post these to show that he is breaking down or becoming less Roy than he has been in the past, but a declining K rate coupled with suspect defense isn't good news for Roy.

Last Edited By: The Ausmus LongBall Apr 5 08 4:39 PM. Edited 1 times.