Antonio Bastardo is pumped to be part of the Mets bullpen and is already training at the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie. In an interview with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, Bastardo said he wants to help the Mets anyway he can and he looks forward to bridging the gap from the starters to closer Jeurys Familia.
“I know the Mets needed help and that is why I signed here,’’ Bastardo told The Post. “The Mets have a great team, with great, great young arms. We just have to make sure we stay focused and hopefully this year or next year we can win the World Series.”
“I want to make it so Familia is fresh in the ninth inning. Four outs is a lot of work for the closer. You want him fresh for that winning situation in the ninth.’’
Bastardo, 30, signed a two year, $12 million deal in January and the lefty is expected to take over the setup role for the Mets this season – a role the team struggled to fill consistently in 2015.
“If our pitchers dominate from the first to the sixth or seventh inning they’re not going to have a chance,” Bastardo said in a phone interview with Matt Ehalt of The Record. “They’ll be frustrated from beginning to end.”
Bastardo could not contain his excitement about joining the Mets and he expects big things this season and next.
“The team was in the World Series and competed the whole year. That makes me think we can be in that spot this year, for sure,” Bastardo said. “If you see the starting pitching we have, and the hitters we have, all that makes you think about being in the World Series with these guys.”
Bastardo had a great year for the Pirates, going 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.134 WHIP and a 10.0 K/9 rate. He appeared in 66 games and pitched 57.1 innings, striking out 64 and walking 26.
Lefties batted a mere .138 (9-65) against Bastardo in 2015, with one home run and three RBIs (righties batted .207). In his career, lefties have batted .176 against him, so last season was not an outlier.
(Photo: NY Post)
