Will new acquisition Antonio Bastardo provide the same impact for the Pirates this season that he did last year?
Antonio Bastardo was a quiet acquisition for the Pirates yesterday, and his addition was likely lost in the later trade of Francisco Liriano to the Blue Jays. While this trade may have been lost in the shuffle to fans, it really shouldn’t. The Pirates needed to add to their bullpen before the deadline to be more competitive this season, and they did that with Bastardo. Having Bastardo over Jon Niese in the bullpen, even if Bastardo doesn’t improve, is easily an improvement over what Niese gave the team this season.
On the surface, Bastardo is having a down year compared to how he pitched last season with the Pirates and before that with the Phillies. He’s pitched to a 4.74 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP, both the worst marks of his career since he became a full-time relief pitcher in 2011. And his FIP of 5.06 would be the worst mark of his career outside of his rookie season. Couple those with a lower strikeout rate than usual of 9.5 K/9 (still high, but the lowest mark since his rookie year), and Bastardo hasn’t shown many signs that he can turn it around this season.
Bastardo’s biggest issue this year has been the home run ball. His home run rate of 1.6 HR/9 is the highest mark of his career, as he almost always operates with a HR/9 rate under 1.0. He’s already given up eight home runs, the most in any season of his career, and there’s still two months to go. Thus, Ray Searage certainly has his work cut out for him with Bastardo.
So why should we be optimistic about this trade then? Well for one, Bastardo is better than Niese. Yes, Niese had a limited sample size in relief, but who’s to say he’d have been that much better in relief than he was as a starter? The Pirates also gain money in the Niese for Bastardo swap, as Niese is making more than Bastardo this season. That money could be used in an acquisition at the waiver deadline at the end of August if the Pirates are still competing for a playoff spot then.
And I’m going to go out on a limb and say Bastardo will turn it around. His career stats say that this is a fluke year, and he’s only 30, so I don’t think a drastic decline in his performance is beginning now because of his age. If he was a starter, then maybe, but not as a reliever. And he’s only one year removed from a great season with the Pirates. This staff knows Bastardo, and they know what he needs to do to pitch well. If he could turn it around anywhere, it’d be in Pittsburgh.
This season could end up resulting in the Pirates missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012. If that’s the case, maybe the staff uses this year to try to fix Bastardo, who is under contract for next season, while next year Bastardo returns to form and pitches well in a contract year. In the end, it never hurts to have another lefty in the pen, and one with a history of pitching well.
Image Credit – slgckgc (via Flickr Creative Commons)
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