2012 Expectations
Big things were expected from Antonio Bastardo following his breakout year in 2011. Bastardo had put together a 6-1 record with a 2.64 ERA along with eight saves. Even though he began to perform poorly at the end of the season, the Phillies were counting on the lefthander to once again be a workhorse out of the bullpen that the team could use in a variety of roles.
2012 Performance
Bastardo was nothing short of a disaster in 2012. He lost some velocity on his fastball, and shortly afterwards lost his confidence. There were few times last season that the Phillies were able to feel good about putting him in the game in a tight situation. He finished the season with a 2-5 record, a 4.33 ERA, and just one save in five opportunities.
Bastardo did have a couple of points in the season where it looked as though he could have been regaining his old form. He had a very successful month in May where he went 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in 13 appearances. But ultimately, it was a lost season for the native of the Dominican Republic. He was at his worst in July, posting a disturbing ERA of 9.72 in just 8.1 innings.
It got to the point where many where calling for the Phillies to shut Bastardo down for the year to avoid damaging his confidence even further, but the Phillies kept him active and in the major leagues. They were able to get him on a bit of a roll to close out the season. Bastardo finished the year with an ERA of 0.93 in 12 September outings. The Phillies began to use him as a situational pitcher. Instead of asking him to make through an entire inning, the team asked to only record one or two outs at a time, and Bastardo seemed to respond well to that.
2013 Outlook
Bastardo enters 2013 as a major question mark, albeit a very intriguing one.
Who is the real Antonio Bastardo? Is the guy that set the world on fire in 2011, or is the mediocre reliever we saw in 2012?
While the Phillies would love to have the 2011 Bastardo back, they won’t count on him to perform at that level again. Newly signed Mike Adams and Phillippe Aumont will be the team’s top options out of the bullpen, while guys like Bastardo, Jeremy Horst, and Mike Stutes will be asked to play complimentary roles to start the season.
I think the Phillies will start off the season handling Bastardo in a similar way that they did at the end of last season. He’ll be a situational lefthander, and won’t be asked to do too much. If he’s able to find a nice groove and pitch well, his role could expand as the team regains confidence in him.
The Phillies need Bastardo to bounce back this season. They don’t have any better lefthanded relief options at the moment, and if Bastardo falters again they’re going to need to find that relief elsewhere.
Was Overused in 2011 along with Michael Stutes by Manager Charlie Manuel who burned both of them out after great Seasons in 2011 until they hit the wall in September of 2011.. Neither Pitcher has been the same since
It was known last SPring Camp that Bastardo’s Velocity was in the upper 80’s at best and was a good 5-7-8 MPH Slower and should have been handled accorddingly, but no, Manager Manuel threw him out day after day until he got rocked enough and lost his confidence and more control..
The biggest downfall of a reliever is a lack of Control, Walks and running Deep Counts and getting behind on Hitters is a no-no for Relievers and we saw all last Season that the Bullpen struggle with their Control and this needs to be addressed with the entire Pitching Staff
Manuel is one of the worst Managers in Baseball in working a Bullpen..
He continually stays with the “Hot Hand” too much which burns them out
while underutilizing other Pitchers and then when they are counted on, have little to no confidence, or haven’t pitched in a week… you nned a consistent blend and Pitchers to know their Roles like Manager Bochy does in SF
or what LaRussa did in St Louis or the Braves Bobby Cox/Freddie Gonzales or the Yankees and TB Rays…
Manuel likes to throw the same 8 Positon Players every day and sink or swim with them and he’s the same way with his Bullpen.. Same 2-3 Pitchers instead of utilizing all 5-6 of the Relivers which causes over-usage on some, and not enough on others..
Unfortunately fraud numbers do not back up what you say– as usual. Your bobby cox consistently uses 2-4 pitchers more than 60 games per year. in 2011 Bastardo threw in 64 games, Stutes in 57– very MODEST numbers on a Bobby Cox team.
you are consistent at least… consistent talking out your a$$
in 2011 Bochy had 5 pitchers with 57 appearances or more. dude– its called the internet- check your facts before professing you know shit!
bobby cox 15 division titles in 30 years of managing (50% of the time he won the division)- manuel 6 division titles in 11 years (55% of the time he won the division)– hmmmmm fraud where are you?
to HAC,
Remember that Barstardo & Stutes didn’t even come into the 2011 Season to late May/Early June so their Apperances were in a more condensed Time Period since they weren;’t even counted on when the 2011 Season began and plus the Fact that since both Stutes/Basterdo were really seeing their first MLB Expereience, their Arms and Mental makeup hit the Wall by mid-late September.. The Giants/Braves/Rays/Reds/Rays have more experienced Pitchers who know their limits/bodies and Managers that know how to use them properly as they have past track records to go by where Manuel was simply winging it in 2011 simply going with the “hot hands” which Cost him in 2012.. This is my story and I am sticking to it
If you think that Charlie Manuel is good at Managing a Pitching Staff, let alone the Bullpen,then you don’t know Baseball very well..
as referenced above- all managers rely on the hot hand out of the bp! all! bochy always uses 5 pitcers for 60-75 games! ALWAYS~! i know baseball very well
Then you should know that Manuel is brutal on Pitching Staffs.. he’s a Pitcher-Killer just like Coach AR is a QB-Killer..
statistics say different but in fraud man fashion don’t let reality get in the way
Oh and fraud one more thing o blow holes in your stupidity.. Cox winning percentage is .556 and Charlie’s is .555 and with thephils Charlie is .561 and with thebravescox is .557
Cox managed his Bullpen Better than Manuel, hands down, not even close
Says who? Innings pitched are identical
Charlie won a champianship in philly for philly -I accept him as a genius and will always stand up and clap for him.
Even if its true paulman so what, cox is gone, Charlie is old school , why are you now on his case, he’s a winner , isn’t there enough dysfunction
at nova care to occupy you
Manuel is not a good game Manager in my opinion
Phil’s had the 2nd highest Payroll in the MLB from 2009-2011 and good eggs
For Championships and only Won a bogus WS verses the newbie Rays
Team who was just happy to be in the Post-Season
2008 is ancient History S far as Sports go
Phil’s flat out choked in 2009-2011 if you ask me
I always laugh at how some people on this site talk about bogus championships/ wins. Does everyone understand that the phillies had no control over who they played in the 2008 WS. If people can remember back that far the Mighty Red Sox blew the ALCS to the Rays. WHat I saw was a hungry Rays team fighting to the last out, while a Red Sox team tried to get by on reputation. Kind of like how people down graded the Eagles and their NFC East titles because the Cowboys, Giants and Skin’s did not have good times. Whose fault is that the rest of division stunk. Don’t teams win because they beat on the teams they should win against. To use the logic of some of my fellow contributors we could say the same thing now right? The only reason the Giants or Skins or Boys win this year is because the Eagles stink right? The Eagles stink because of decisions THEY MADE and not for any other reason Please stop “excusing” why teams win because of who they play. You can only play the teams that are on your schedule. As far as 2008, yes it is distant memory and the Phillies need to move on. The window has closed and I do not think they realize it. Time to retool.
Cox had the best team in baseball and only won 1 WS! He had ta huge payroll then! Your opinion is negative and misguided as usual. Same winning percentage
One Ws in 30 years? Great game day manager? Good call fraud. One WS in 30… You are a joke
Glavine s, smolts, Maddox, jones, justice, Wohlers. He coached up a bunch of bums to one WS title. Too funny
Paul, I hate to agree with havenoclue, but he TKO’d you, my man!
Ok you can’t win them all, I am still convinced that MNuel
Is poor at handling his Bullpen which was the premise of my argument
And a good reason why the Phils Pitchers Bastardo/Stutes were
Non-factors in 2012 and big ? Marks for 2013.
I believe Bastardo is best utilized as a situational Releif Pitcher and
Can come in to face that tough Left-Handed Batter or two and not a Pitcher to give you who is going to give you full innings or more
(Think of a Scott Eyre Type)
You are convinced even tho the facts prove you wrong as the gentlemen above have pointed out to you
What I am saying and strongly believe is that Charlie Manuel’s biggest weakness as Mabager is his poor handling of his Bullpen plain and simple
Lets see how he does this final season of his with the Handling of the Bullpen ehich on paper appears to be much improved..
Fortunately he managed it as well as your butt buddy cox. He has won as many WS in a third of the time!
That’s funny, I don’t recall Charlie winning anything with Cleveland Indians when he had some ball clubs in the Post-Season
1 WS in 11 years or 1 in 30…. you pick which is better…. hell if we give AR another 15 years he might get us a SB!