Bastardo was surprised by the trade to Pirates
BRADENTON, Fla. — Antonio Bastardo was seemingly the only person surprised by the trade.
The Pirates acquired the left-handed reliever from the Philadelphia Phillies in a deal for left-handed pitching prospect Joely Rodriguez in December at the Winter Meetings in San Diego.
The Pirates tried to acquire Bastardo each of the past two seasons at the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline without success. They got their man when Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. finally conceded it was time to start rebuilding following back-to-back 89-loss seasons.
The Phillies have been slow to acknowledge that their window for contending had closed despite having non-winning seasons in a row since capturing five straight National League East titles from 2007-11.
“You’d keep hearing rumors about how this guy or that guy was going to be traded, but then they never made any trades,” Bastardo said at the Pirates’ spring training camp. “So when last season ended, I thought I would be back with the Phillies this year. I wasn’t expecting to be with the Pirates.”
The Pirates are glad to have Bastardo as he will fill the role as the second left-hander in the bullpen behind Tony Watson, who was selected to the All-Star Game last season. Bastardo replaces Justin Wilson, who was traded to the New York Yankees in November for catcher Francisco Cervelli.
“He’s a good fit for our bullpen,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He’s a little bit of a different look.”
Bastardo’s fastball averaged 91 mph last season, according to Stats LLC, which is slow by the standards of the Pirates’ relief corps. However, the pitch is hard for hitters to see — especially left-handers — because he throws it with a short-arm motion, and he complements it with a slider.
Despite the lack of great velocity, the 29-year-old Bastardo averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings during his six seasons with the Philies. Walks, though, were a problem as he gave 4.3 per nine innings.
However, the Pirates believe he can conquer the control issues and bolster their bullpen, and Bastardo is happy to move from one end of Pennsylvania to the other.
“This is a team on the rise, a team that has been going to the playoffs the last couple of years,” he said. “It was tough in Philly because we were losing but it was fun when we were winning. It’s nice to back on a winning team.”