Oswalt gets Opening Day start for 'Stros

[greasywheels121]

Despite new stars, Oswalt gets opening day start

By MARK BABINECK, AP SPORTS

 

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) - Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte had just arrived at spring training Sunday when Houston Astros manager Jimy Williams announced that neither one would start on opening day.

 

But the decision to go with Roy Oswalt came as no surprise to the ex-Yankees.

 

"Jimy and I talked about it a couple of weeks ago and that's how we talked about it," Clemens said. "To me, all the guys are deserving. We've all had our opportunities to start opening day."

 

Oswalt, one of three holdovers from last year's rotation along with Wade Miller and Tim Redding, is one of the best young pitchers in baseball. But he was hampered by chronic groin injuries in 2003 and had surgery in the offseason to correct the problem.

 

Clemens and Pettitte were the Astros' two big offseason acquisitions, but Williams decided to go with Oswalt against Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in Houston on April 5.

 

"He has come through the (farm) system and he was injured ... three times with his groin, and basically could have packed it in," Williams said. "He could have said, `I'm injured, I need an operation, I might hurt myself if I try to continue pitching."'

 

Pettitte will go second in the rotation, followed by his pal Clemens. Miller, the club's opening day starter in 2002, will pitch fourth, and Redding is No. 5.

 

"He's got a lot of pitching over there," Yankees manager Joe Torre said in Tampa, Fla.

 

He would know.

 

Setting up the starting rotation two weeks before exhibition games begin gives the pitchers time to prepare their throwing routines in February, a luxury Pettitte said he and Clemens never had in New York.

 

"Usually that's top secret where we come from," said Pettitte, who shares famously rigorous workout habits with Clemens. "For us, this is great."

 

Oswalt, a 19-game winner in 2002, was on the disabled list three times last season. But he returned to the mound and won four games down the stretch as Houston's bid to catch the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central fell just short.

 

"If I go first or I go third it doesn't matter," Oswalt said. "It's an honor, so of course it's special, but I don't see (the others) behind me. I seem them with me."

 

Despite constant pain and limited action, Oswalt, 26, went 10-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 21 starts last year. His 2.92 ERA the last three seasons is better than either Clemens or Pettitte.

 

Williams' decision was partly to reward Oswalt, and to position the left-handed Pettitte between the team's top right-handers.

 

"I basically thought that way after the season, before these other two big pitchers came in," Williams said. "But we're certainly happy to have them."

 

Williams told the pitchers of his final decision just hours after pitchers and catchers underwent physicals and prepared for the first workout of spring training.

 

Pettitte signed a $31.5 million, three-year deal with the Astros in December. That helped convince his friend and fellow Houston-area resident, Clemens, to end a brief retirement and join the Astros for $5 million this season.

 

The signings have led to the most anticipated season in recent memory for Astros players and fans.

 

"You look across the (locker) room and there are two legends wearing the same uniform as you," reliever Kirk Saarloos said.

 

As for their first day of workouts with the Astros, Pettitte said everything felt fairly normal except going through NL-style bunting and baserunning drills. He talked about getting schooled in the art of sliding and bunting, things the Yankees didn't exactly stress on reporting day.

 

Clemens, also switching leagues for the first time, chided Pettitte at a news conference.

 

"Surely you knew all that, right?" he said.

 

Brad Ausmus, the veteran catcher assigned to help the former Yankees learn NL lineups, said he wasn't surprised by the rotation order and believes the team has four No. 1 starters.

 

"You could put their names in a hat and pull any one out," he said. "I'm confident with any one of those guys and I think most of the team is."

 

The next step for the rotation is a golf outing planned early this week with Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte and Miller. Equipment-toting duties will be on the line, said Clemens, intent on making sure Pettitte has to schlep his bag around the Osceola County Stadium grounds.

 

Oswalt might lead off the pitching rotation, but who will hit the opening drive on the first tee?

 

"Probably Roger," Oswalt said.

[MurcieOne]

I'd say thats legit.... Oswalt is the best starter on that staff, and the one who's lead that team (when not injured)

[Jordan4life_2007]

If Oswalt had been healthy and made his 30-35 starts I think they would have won the division last year. Everybody is jockin he Cubs. But I still think the Astros have just as good a depth if not slightly more in the starting pitching department...