Antonio Bastardo came out throwing heat, and he never really stopped bringing it until he was pulled from the game after pitching six strong innings in San Diego last night. The 23-year-old was impressive in his first career major league start, looking every bit like a veteran stud on the mound, giving up only one run on four hits in six innings while striking out five. He was spotted four runs in the 1st inning and never looked back; his only real mistake coming on an Adrian Gonzalez HR in the 6th. Personally, I only made it through three innings before fallings asleep, but from what I saw he was throwing a steady diet of fastballs in the 93-95 MPH range. He works fast and seems to have that JC Romero intensity on the mound. I liked what I saw, not really much to criticize. If he stays in the rotation, which I would assume will be the case, the Phillies will have only one right handed starting pitcher. I’m sure this has been done in the past, but has it been successful?
I still believe they need to make a trade for another starter. They cannot enter the postseason with Joe Blanton as the #2 SP - they will not win a series if that is the case. Imagine Hamels-Peavy/Oswalt– they would be favored against anyone, no questions asked.
By the way, I can't wait to see the fan club for Bastardo at CBP. Bastardo’s Bastards? Bastardo’s Illegitimates? What do you think? Any ideas?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Let's wait on the Johan Santana comparisons. This guy has had one start and the 93-95 MPH fastballs were pure Adrenalin. He's normally going to be at about 90 (and yes, that's a BIG difference).
ReplyDeleteThe guy is going to have growing pains and we (ahem, Sec202) can't go nuts and say he's a bum if he goes out and lets up six runs in 2.1 innings in his next start.
'Bastardo's Illegitimates' is classic!! Run with it namesake!
I wont get on Bastardo cause he wasn't hyped up like Carasco. I agree that he will have his hiccups as a starter just like anyone else. I was just saying a couple of blogs ago that they treat Carasco like he is the next Lincecum and he hasnt proved anything. I called Carasco and Kendrick bums by the way. You mean to tell me Spider that Kyle Kendrick is not a bum? I think Balboa hit you with too many punches to the head.
ReplyDeleteKendrick was an overachiever, not a bum! He was a guy who was called up for a spot start back in '07 and it took everyone two years to figure him out!
ReplyDeleteWe wouldn't have won the division in '07 if it wasn't for him and for the beginning of '08 he was pretty good, if I remember correctly.
Ask the Phillies scouts...He was a guy that no one expected to be called up because he couldn't even get guys out in AA.
That's not a bum in my book.
I do agree that Carrasco was over-hyped, but I believe that was more the Phillies trying to hype him so they could use him as trade bait. Maybe he's just working on different pitches in the minors. I can't imagine any other reasons why his numbers are so bad.
I dont think the reason the Phils won he division in '07 was because of Kyle Kendrick. Lets be honest here. We had an MVP and a former MVP carrying that team all the way to the playoffs. He did what was expected of him and i think he even won 10 games that year which was pretty good. Then he got lit up by the Rockies in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteHe was an over achiever and everything you said was correct about not getting out of AA. He relied on 2 pitches and one was a sinking fastball that somehow forgot to sink by the 2nd inning. Scouts picked up on this real quick and he could never develop a breaking ball. At that level unless you are Hamels or Santana you are not gonna get by with 2 pitches. Its his fault for not trying to better himself and mix things up by having another pitch in his arsenal. BUM!
Kendrick's days as a pitcher are over and maybe he should think about a new profession like teaching kids how to tip their pitches...They would learn from the best.
I think Kendrick clearly overacheived. He was the # 2 starter in end of '07. By July/August '08 he was giving games away. I don't have numbers but didn't it also seem like the Phils bats would always wake up for him?
ReplyDeleteProblem was that he probably could not develop other pitches while pitching in the major league level. He was just over his head. Unless he can do that now in AAA, its doubtful we'll see him again.
Did what we expected him to do...Really? Do you 'expect' Drew Carpenter to win 10 games for this Phillies? He was brought up in a spot start for the Phils this year.
ReplyDeleteLet's hold on on the 'strong stands' for a second and think about this rationally.
Don't even pretend to tell me that anyone 'expected' Kendrick to stay more than 1-2 starts while we found a suitable replacement for Freddy Garcia. Not even you Sec202.
Obviously he wasn't THE reason we won the division in '07, but it sure helped. Any guy who comes out of nowhere and wins 10 games with a 3.87 ERA is going to help your team.
I'm sure he's been trying to better himself since he came up, but sometimes the skill isn't there.
And let's be honest here...Are we giving up on a guy who's only 24 and came into the majors at 22. He's got plenty of time to work in the minors. He could come up and be a quality starter or reliever.
Yes did what was expected. He was brought up to keep the Phils in games in games and that is what he did. Sorry that was my way of saying doing what was expected. Winning ten games is huge for a guy like Kendrick. If you remember correctly he did get a lot of run support back in '07 which is a main reason that he won ten games. Spider I would much rather argue over something more important than Kyle Kendrick. All I am saying is that he will probably never pitch again in the bigs. He is not capablle of developing another pitch, and if he does develop one you may see him in a reliever role somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI'll take that.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to come off as a Kyle Kendrick fan, because I REALLY don't want him to be in my rotation this season unless he develops more. However, I'm happy for what he did for us for 1+ years.
Carrasco finally got a W tonight. 6.1 2 runs 5 k's
ReplyDeleteSec202 - Kendrick's a bum!
ReplyDelete