Roy Oswalt Will Miss Start, Might Go On DL

Kendrick will start Saturday. Oswalt could land on the DL. Back bothering him a bit.

To review … In Roy Oswalt’s last start, on the 26th of April, he lasted only three innings and gave up five runs. Immediately afterward, Oswalt left the Phillies without comment and headed to Mississippi to be with his family in the wake of the devastating tornadoes in the south. He was expected to miss just one start, and the Phillies went to a four-man rotation, with rookie Vance Worley standing in for DL’d Joe Blanton and nobody taking Oswalt’s spot.

That’s obviously changed, with Kyle Kendrick stepping into the large breach. The Phillies are fortunate to have both Worley and Kendrick, both of whom are good enough to start for a lot of teams. They’re also fortunate to have an exceptionally talented roster, and probably can withstand the loss of Oswalt for a short time.

What this points to, more than anything, is how overblown that talk was before the season, about the Phillies having three or four 20-game winners. Because some guys get unlucky, some guys get hurt, and some guys get both.