Corey Oswalt is on the short list to replace a starting pitcher this season if any pitcher needs it, which is why we are writing a 2019 stats projection article for him. He’s already been assigned to minor league camp, although in the last couple of days we may see a return of Oswalt as the regulars limit their work load in their final tuneups, throw on the backfields, etc.
2018: 64.7 IP, 5.85 ERA, 5.70 FIP, 1.376 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 5.73 DRA
2019 Spring Training: 3 G, 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 7 K, 1.69 ERA, 0.750 WHIP
His numbers weren’t terribly impressive last year but the Mets quite literally jerked him around and over the country between Las Vegas and Queens using him in emergency situations and constantly changing his role with the club. With the way the Mets built the pen this year, he shouldn’t even be considered as a bullpen injury replacement so this should at least keep him in one role. The AAA club in Syracuse should also keep him generally in the same time zone as the Mets. Computers think he’ll put up the following numbers this year:
(Citations: Baseball Prospectus (BP) projections are from the Baseball Prospectus annual which can you can get here. It’s highly recommended. ESPN projections can be found here. ZiPS can be found here. Steamer can be found here. Baseball Reference projections (BR) can found on the players BR page which linked elsewhere on this article. )
ZiPS and ESPN (quite surprising to see him in agreement), see Oswalt as improving but not by much. Everyone else sees him becoming an average 5th starter with irregular playing time if he gets it and that seems like a fair hope for Oswalt this season.
