Bastardo Breakdown

You couldn't of asked for more out of Antonio Bastardo, who made his Major League debut on Tuesday.

The 23 year old pitched six solid innings allowing just one earned run, a solo home run to the league leader in home runs, Adrian Gonzlaez. Bastardo allowed only four hits and one walk. He hit a batter and struck out five earning the win. A fantastic line, none the less.

There was no doubt that Bastardo was nervous, yet excited about his first big league start. The 4-0 lead in the first inning may of relaxed him, but Charlie Manuel said after the game his emotions could of effected his grip of his offspeed pitches. His slider and changeup are said to be his best pitches, however Bastardo threw mostly fastballs throughout the entire game.

He located his pitches and he threw harder than the scouting reports indicated. He threw about 94 mph consistently.

He dominated the game with one pitch: his fastball. He did not show much of his offspeed and breaking pitches, but in the future he is going to need those pitches in order to be successful.

Yes, Bastardo pitched excellent, but he faced the San Diego Padres, a poor hitting ball club. When facing a solid hitting team, he can not rely solely on his fastball especially when he isn't at Petco Park, a pitchers park. Although not many of his fly ball outs were deep in the outfield, his groundout to flyout ratio was 3:10.

He pitched great and earned another start. However, this one start isn't going to make him a Hall of Famer. If he wants to be successful in the future, he is going to need to throw more offspeed pitches. He kept his job for now, but one start is not going to stop the Phillies from trading for a reliable, more experienced starting pitcher.

Call of the Day: In August of 2006, Jon Lieber pitched a complete game shut out against the New York Mets. With the video link, you can also here some great "struck 'em out!" calls.

"Bouncing ball to Nunez! This is going to be it! Five hit shut
out Jon Lieber! Lieber a gem! His fourth career shut out his first
since 2001 while pitching for the Chicargo [sic] Cubs."