As was reported on Wednesday night, the New York Mets agreed to terms with LHP Antonio Bastardo on a two year deal worth $12 million dollars. It was not the signing that many Mets fans had hoped for last night, but a solid one nonetheless.
Bastardo is a lefty but, not limited to being just a lefty specialist, as he excels against hitters from both sides of the plate. both lefties and righties.
The signing of Bastardo gives Terry Collins another viable high-end option out of the pen to go with closer Jeurys Familia and returning right-hander Addison Reed.
Believe it or not, with this addition the Mets bullpen is actually looking very deep. To start the season the pen will most likely look like this:
Jeurys Familia – Closer
Antonio Bastardo – LHP
Addison Reed – RHP
Hansel Robles – RHP
Jerry Blevins – LHP
Erik Goeddel – RHP
Carlos Torres – RHP (no options)
Amongst other candidates you have Jim Henderson, Josh Smoker, Dario Alvarez and Akeel Morris who will likely provide depth at Triple-A Las Vegas.
And don’t forget Josh Edgin could return around May, Jenrry Mejia will return from his suspension in the second half, and that Bartolo Colon will likely head to the pen once Zack Wheeler returns – barring any setbacks or injuries. It looks like Rafael Montero, Sean Gilmartin and Logan Verrett are ticketed to begin the season in the starting rotation for Las Vegas.
Some are wondering who will inherit the setup man role. Obviously it will come down to Bastardo vs. Reed, but Collins could just go based on matchups to start the season and then see who steps up from there. In the end I believe it will be Bastardo, but honestly both should be able to flourish in the eighth inning role.
Keep on eye on Hansel Robles, who has shown flashes of dominance and could really emerge as another lethal weapon out of that pen. Heck even when Jenrry Mejia returns, he is also a solid setup option. Terry has got himself a revamped bullpen with no shortage of solid options and it will be interesting to see how he utilizes them.
Bastardo, 30, had a career year last season. In 57.1 innings of work, he posted a 2.98 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 26 walks, while limiting opposing hitters to a .188 batting average against. In 65 at-bats, lefties batted a minuscule .138 against him with an OPS of .448. In 143 at-bats against righties he allowed a .210 average with an OPS of .626. As seen in his stats, Bastardo can pitch against any hitter righty or lefty, making him a superb eighth inning option.
Here’s an interesting stat from MMO contributor Ed Leyro: Bastardo has faced the Nats 38 times and has a 1.84 ERA and 0.95 WHIP against them. Even better, Nats hitters are 13-for-100 against him with 39 strikeouts.
Reed, 27, is another solid option for the setup man job. Reed already has closer experience which should help him to assimilate to the late-inning role. Reed’s career has been up and down, but he looked like he regained his confidence once he joined the Mets. In 15.1 innings with the Mets, he had a 1.17 ERA and 1.043 WHIP, while striking out 17. He has the arsenal and the psyche for the job, for him it is just a matter of being more consistent.
The dark horse for the set-up role is Robles. Hansel put up an ERA of 3.67, 61 K’s, 1.02 WHIP, in 54 innings of work. He certainly has the “stuff”, and is not flustered in high leverage situations. However, he does seem to suffer from those occasional “Heilman” moments, when he could be pitching well and then suddenly lose focus and gives up a big hit that dooms him. If he could harness all of his pitches and become more of a pitcher instead of a thrower, he could be dangerous out of the pen.
Like I mentioned previously, it will likely be Bastardo pitching in the set-up role, but unlike previous seasons the Mets have themselves some quality options to turn to and more depth than they have enjoyed in a long time.
