The Antonio Bastardo era officially began Tuesday night and after six strong innings the future looks bright for the young pitcher.
Bastardo mixed a moving fastball, his vicious change-up and hard-to-pick-up motion to baffle Padres hitters Tuesday night as the Phils crushed the Pads 10-5.
Bastardo's stats for the game read like that of an ace (like his opponent Padres' Jake Peavy should be putting up instead of getting shelled for four runs in an inning).
Bastardo's line: 102 pitches while allowing one earned run, four hits, one walk and five strikeouts over six innings pitched.
Most impressive was Bastardo's fastball. He was scouted as throwing only about 91 mph but instead was topping out at 94 to 95 mph Tuesday, according to the 700 Level.
His tricky delivery seemed most baffling to San Diego's hitters who didn't do squat against the lefty until Adrian Gonzalez hit his Major-League-leading 22nd homer in the sixth inning.
Yes he pitched against a pitiful (outside of Gonzalez) Padres' line up but still it was a great debut for the 23-year-old Dominican southpaw.
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And the best part is that he already has his own fan club -- the "El Bastardo" (we won't translate that one) crew was out with the signs in San Diego. It was reminiscent of the old days of the "Wolf Pack," "Padilla's Flotilla" and "Millwood's Militia."
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