The Philadelphia Phillies have traded relief pitcher Antonio Bastardo to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Bucs minor league left-hander Joely Rodriguez.
As GM Ruben Amaro continues to dismantle what we here at TBOH have come to call the “Glory Era” roster, the players who helped win the 5-straight NL East crowns, back-to-back NL Pennants, and the 2008 World Series continue to move.
Bastardo came up in 2009, and despite pitching just 6 regular season games he got to make an appearance in each of the NLDS and NLCS that year. He would further pitch in the postseason for both the 2010 and 2011 Phillies.
Just this afternoon, I published an article here at TBOH titled “Antonio Bastardo a Hot Commodity” which specifically noted the recent Pittsburgh interest in the lefty. I knew he was ‘hot’, just not exactly how hot.
In 2011, his first full season in the big leagues, Antonio Bastardo was lights-out as a setup man for a team that won a franchise-record 102 games. That year he pitched in 58 innings over 64 games in which he allowed just 28 hits. That year he struck out 70 batters while walking only 26.
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Since then, Bastardo may have never reached that same shutdown level, but he has added three more excellent seasons on to his career resume. He consistently gives up fewer hits and strikes out more hitters than innings pitched.
Joely Rodriguez dealt to Phillies for Antonio Bastardo
Coming to the Phillies is Joely Rodriguez, a lefty who just turned 23 years old a few weeks ago. He has been used almost exclusively as a starting pitcher in the Bucs organization through 6 years, beginning as a 17-year old.
The Phillies might see him as a bullpen piece in the future. Before the 2014 season, Baseball America had him as the #30 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, speculating that he might move to the pen.