The Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets completed a dealt that brough back relief pitcher Antonio Bastardo to the Pirates and sent reliever Jonathan Niese back to the Mets. Bastardo pitched for the Pirates out of the bullpen last season helping them reach the wild card game for the third year in a row.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were put right in the middle of the pack going into today's trade deadline. They currently sit four games out of the second National League wild card race and 9.5 games back of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. So, the Pirates had to plan for the future, but didn't want to throw away the 2016 season in the process. As a result, we saw a lot of low profile moves that help the team both now and in the long run.
In their second deal of the afternoon, the team sent left-hander Jon Niese back to the New York Mets in exchange for another familiar face as they got left-hander Antonio Bastardo. With the Pirates having lost their closer Mark Melancon in a deal to the Washington Nationals, the Pirates needed some more proven bullpen help to finish this season. Bastardo pitched for Pittsburgh last season and was effective out of the bullpen.
This season for the Mets, Bastardo is 0-0 with a 4.74 ERA collecting 46 strikeouts in 43.2 innings of work out of the bullpen. Last season for the Pirates, Bastardo went 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA and was very effective striking out 64 in 57.1 innings worked. The move gives the Pirates now three left handed options out of their bullpen in Bastardo, closer Tony Watson, and newly acquired reliever Felipe Rivero.
Bastardo is very good at striking out batters and has been throughout his major league career. He has a K/9 ratio of 9.48 and this season is averaging to strike out 1.06 batters every inning. This is something the Pirates desperately need out of the bullpen. Currently, the only guy in the bullpen with more strikeouts then innings pitched is set-up man Neftali Feliz who has 47 in 40.0 innings of work. Now you throw Bastardo into the mix and it gives you another reliever with strikeout ability to come into a big spot and get that punch out when it is needed.
Another plus with Bastardo is that he is signed through the 2017 season, so he will be back next year to help anchor this Pirates bullpen. With the trade of Melancon, the Pirates will be looking for a full-time closer for 2017 and Bastardo could step-in and bring some closing experience to the Pirates as he was the closer for the Philledelphia Phillies back in 2011 when he converted eight of nine save chances and could offer some competition for Tony Watson.
In return, the New York Mets reacquire left-hander Jon Niese for their bullpen. For the Pirates on the year, Niese had a record of 8-6 with a 4.91 ERA in 110 innings of work between the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Pirates acquired Niese from the New York Mets last off-season in a trade that sent Neil Walker to the New York Mets.
Niese had started the year in the Pirates rotation and got off to a good start leading the Pirates in wins at one point with a record of 5-2 on the season, but his ERA was a problem as it sat at 5.08. This consistently high ERA would later effect him and caused him to have a very bad month of June in which he went 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA,
This lead to a demotion to the Pirates bullpen, and Niese accepted the demotion and actually has been pretty good in that role for the Pirates. In five games out of the bullpen, Niese had a record of 1-0 and a 2.25 ERA in eight innings pitched. He would be the pitcher who picked up the win in the 18 inning game against the Washington Nationals when he threw three scoreless innings allowing just three hits in the game.
Bastardo should help bolster this already good Pirates bullpen as the season moves on. The key to this deal for me is that the Pirates have a proven, reliable arm in the bullpen next season that can compliment guys like Tony Watson and A.J. Schugel. One thing that has remained consistent over the years for the Pirates is the quality of their bullpen. With the addition of Bastardo, that trend looks to continue here in 2016 and through 2017.
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