It could prove to be nothing more than a scary moment; Oswalt was found to have a neck bruise, while X-rays and a CT scan returned negative. He never lost consciousness and he did not feel dizzy, the team said.
"I'm good," Oswalt said while walking to his car. Brian Schneider was with him, having first played the role of catcher and now chauffeur back to Clearwater.
At this point, Manuel may have few qualms about skipping these final eight exhibition games. What else can go wrong?
Currently, regulars Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Brad Lidge, Shane Victorino, Jose Contreras, and Domonic Brown are sidelined with injuries. Some will return soon, perhaps as early as Thursday. Others will not.
Two things spared Oswalt. First, the ball was not hit off the sweet spot of the bat by Ramirez.
"Manny didn't really hit the ball hard," Manuel said. "He hit the ball OK, but he didn't crush it."
Second, Oswalt had just enough time after his follow-through to turn his back toward home plate. Otherwise, the ball could have hit him in the face.
Still, Oswalt didn't move immediately after falling to the ground as the ball rolled to a stop a few feet away.
"It didn't look like it was hit that hard," Dubee said. "But still, you don't know. I didn't know where it hit him until I got out there."
The righthander pointed to the back of his neck as Schneider knelt down. After about a minute of talking with Andersen, Oswalt popped up to applause. Schneider plopped the ball in Oswalt's glove and, after a brief conversation with Dubee, he surrendered it.
"He kind of grinned and said he was all right," Manuel said.
