The New York Mets know that pitching is going to win games, which is why they decided to add another quality arm to the back of their bullpen this offseason. Sandy Alderson signed Antonio Bastardo to a 2-year, $12 million contract, hoping that he would be a dominant arm out of the bullpen. That has not turned out to be the case so far during his Mets tenure.
Mets fans remember Bastardo awfully well since he was on the Philadelphia Phillies and had successful campaigns during his stay in Philadelphia. Plus he was not very far from Philly once he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2015 season. He experienced plenty of success, which was why it made sense for the Mets to sign Bastardo.
It is very early in the season, but it does not seem that Bastardo has found his rhythm since putting on his Mets uniform for Spring Training games.
In 13 Spring Training games, Bastardo had a 5.56 ERA with a 1.59 WHIP (13 hits and 5 walks) in 11.1 innings. These statistics are not overly alarming, as he has struggled throughout the Spring Training season, and has gone on to experience success in the regular season. The main worry comes from how many hits he has been giving up. Through six games this season, Bastardo has pitched in three, and has given up five hits, including a home run, and has let up two runs in his 3.1 innings of work. Once again, it is a small sample size, but it seems that something is off with Bastardo.
Usually when a pitcher is letting up hits, it is due to a significant drop-off in velocity, but that does not seem to be the case with Bastardo, as his fastball is sitting at 92 MPH, which is around his career velocity. His slider has lost some steam, as it usually sat between 83 and 84 MPH, and now it is being thrown at 81.7 MPH. His changeup has also been below his career velocity, as this year it is averaging 83.5 MPH, yet he has been throwing it over 85 MPH during his career. These changes in velocity may be a contributing factor as to why Bastardo has struggled so far in 2016, but there could be other factors to consider.
An interesting statistic may show that Bastardo is getting hitters to hit his pitch, but they are making contact. O-Contact% is a metric that shows how many times a batter hits the ball when it is thrown out of the strike zone. Bastardo’s rate in this area has increased from 63.6% to 83.3%. Some may look at this statistic and think that it is impressive that hitters are chasing pitches, but relievers need to get swings and misses. Even if the pitch is not meant to be in the strike zone, hitters should not be making contact with these pitches. This could be why hitters are getting hits, and causing his WHIP to increase.
The signing of Bastardo is not a negative one, but he has to find his rhythm and become a focal point for the Mets bullpen. He is still striking out plenty of hitters, so the stuff is there, but the hits have to stop. Luckily the Mets bullpen has been solid so far, but moving forward, the Mets are going to be relying quite a bit on Bastardo to perform.
Circumstances made TC try to get a second inning out of Bastardo last night. Hopefully that doesn’t happen too often. He set down the side in order in his first inning with a K. If he wasn’t forced to pitch the extra (partial) inning, his line for 2016 would be 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks.
While I think it’s clear the Mets should bend over backwards to limit his appearances to an inning, I don’t think it’s clear at all what to expect at the end of the year. Here’s what he’s done so far:
2010 – 4.34 ERA
2011 – 2.64 ERA
2012 – 4.33 ERA
2013 – 2.32 ERA
2014 – 3.94 ERA
2015 – 2.98 ERA
Pretty much any season Bastardo puts up in 2016 wouldn’t be a surprise. He’s been really good in two of the past three years. He’s been forgettable/replaceable in three of the last six years.
My thoughts last night were that “at least” Bastardo and Robles would get some extended live work…maybe get themselves on track.
Results aside, I hope the extra work will pay off very soon.
With Henederson and Robles in the mix, Bastardo and Reed have a tenuous hold on the setup innings.
Bastasrdo was signed to pitch the seventh inning. At the time of the signing, the Mets had other candidates internally for the job. Robles, Goedell and Gilmartin had good numbers in 2015. Blevins was also signed and is capable of being more tha a LOOGY. Edgin also was coming back from TJ surgery. Bastardo was not needed but a nice luxury to have. His inconsistancy from year to year, along with his use in low leverage situations were detriments to his resume. His salary was in line with other free agents and the money spent did not prevent the signing of other players. The complaint is that it was for two years but that was the going length for the market. The emergence of Henderson and the potential of Robles and the expected hopeful recovery of Edgin may keep Bastardo in the second tier of the bullpen in low pressure spots where he has success. Bastardo need not be relied on for the for the 7th inning in 2016 and to me was an unnecessary signing.