What a Bastardo…..

Bastardo, Antonio

Antonio Bastardo, that is. I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking me about Bastardo and what I thought of him….my answer is always “I’d love to write more, but I really don’t know all that much about him”, but his numbers this season deserve a mention, and hopefully this fall I can dig up some more info on him. I know that he was signed out of the Dominican, that he spent time in the DSL before coming stateside, and that he is 21, will be 22 in September. Because he is 21 and didn’t make his US debut until last year, you have to bump him down a bit, as the best prospects from the VSL and DSL generally come stateside when they are 17-18, sometimes 19, unless it is a visa issue. He also has a very wiry frame, as he’s 5’11 and only 160 pounds, and he throws hard from the left side. His numbers

2006, GCL: 23 IP, 3.91 ERA, 20 H, 14 BB, 27 K, 1 HR
2007, SAL, 91.2 IP, 1.87 ERA, 63 H, 42 BB, 98 K, 3 HR

The ERA jumps out at you right away, as does the low hit rate. His problem, which we can easily see, is his control and command, as he’s averaging 4.14 BB/9 but he is striking out more than a batter per inning, and while that doesn’t balance out the high walk totals, it does give us a little more reason for optimism. There is one statistical anomaly here, and that is the home run number. Bastardo gives up more fly balls than grounders, and Lakewood greatly suppresses home runs, which means that when he moves to a more neutral park like Clearwater, he’s going to see his HR total climb, and with it, his ERA. Nevertheless, the arm is there, and from what I’ve read, he has a very good fastball. He’s certainly a prospect to keep an eye on. At this point, he’s probably not as good as the numbers would indicate, at least ERA wise, but he’s a good prospect.

8 thoughts on “What a Bastardo…..”

  1. You have to figure that Bastardo kind of snuck up on the Phillies a bit too. If they had known he was going to be this dominating I don’t think they would have kept him down in ESL until an injury prompted the promotion. In any event, he’s got the dominating peripherals I love to see in a pitching prospect. Currently, I think I would put in him in the 11-15 range. He’ll obviously go to Clearwater next year and pitch at 22 (same as Carpenter this year). I am pleased that with regard to pitches, the Phillies have gotten off their size kick and focus on talent.

    Like

  2. All year I’d been assuming that “bastardo” couldn’t possibly mean what it sounds like it means in Spanish (we were never taught how to say that in high school Spanish class for some reason) – but if Babelfish is to be believed, it means exactly that. Awesome. First, it was Joe Table – now, it’s Tony Bastard.

    Like

  3. There was a question about Bastardo in the BA chat yesterday that had him throwing 91-92 typically, though the writer thought his stuff wasn’t quite as good as his stats. This is consistent with the park helping him out a little bit. He still seems to be a good prospect, and as a left-hander that throws 90 he will get lots of chances.

    Like

  5. Let’s see how he pitches for Clearwater. He just got the call as they battle for first place and the playoffs in the FSL .

    Like

  6. 12 Ks in 5 innings. Rolled through the first 4 innings before getting lit up in the 5th. Looks like Bastardo needs a conditioning program this offseason, he’s been struggling in the 5th and 6th innings lately. Still, you don’t strike out 12 batters in 5 IP unless you’ve got some good stuff.

    Like

  7. Re: Antonio Bastardo

    Maybe Antonio has all these shortcomings I am reading about, but when he came out of Lakewood he was 9-0 AND could easily have been 12-0. They cost him three wins by taking him out of games in the sixth inning where he was leading (4-0, 4-1, 6-1) because he walked ac couple of guys (he IS a strikeout pitcher) and then lost all three of those games.

    Then he goes to Clearwater in the middle of a dog fight and strikes out 12 in 5 innings in his first outing following that with a very credible 4.2 inning perforance (I think that’s what it was) in one of the playoff games. Just when they him, Antonio comes riding in on his white horse. The kid is left handed and 22 years old. He definitely has a future.

    Ranking him 11-14th as a prospect means we have 10-13 better prospects around. If they are pitchers, I must have missed them Who the hell are they? Happ? Mattieson? Carrasco? Outland? They all have come up short in their performances this year.

    But there is one guy I like that I think everyone is overlooking, and who might surprise the Phillies next spring, and that guy sgotten better and better. He is 22 and handled a big workload for Clearwater this year. He lifted them to the FSL championship with a little help from his friend, Antonio Bastardo, and in doing so he looked great. He won two games in the championship round.

    Last 10 games, Mr. Carpenter was 8-1, 2.2 ERA 15 B’s and 50 K’s. For the year, he was 17-6. This is a big strapping kid with a lot of confidence.

    Move over Eaton, here comes your replacement for 2008.
    The Phillies just found their #5 guy. Maybe even #4. Wouldn’t that be something? Hamels, Kendrick and Carpenter? All in their early twenties?

    And Antonio riding north after a solid year at “A” ball in 2008.

    The future looks good. And of course Happ and Mattieson and Carrasco and mainly Josh Outland are solid prospects to join the party maybe mid-2008 or spring of 2009.

    Get your seasons tickets guys.
    Could happen.
    (posted 10/2/07)

    Joey

    med in a big game. (walks) and t hen blowing those games.

    how many Phillies pitchers come to Clearwater with 11-0 records?

    Like

  8. Didn’t someone on this site inform me about 18 months ago that Bastardo’s problem was he wasn’t big enough to get on top of his fastball and that would kill him as he moved to a higher level. He was at Lakewood at the time.

    Isn’t he 5′ 11″ 168 and isn’t Lincecum almost exactly the same size?

    Like

Comments are closed.