The Phillies have traded left handed reliever Antonio Bastardo to Pittsburgh for . Bastardo has been one of the most inconsistent and maddening LHPs over his 5 years in Philly due to his high walk rate and proclivity for blow up innings. But he has been flat out dominant at times and his near the top of the leaderboards in K/9 among all relievers over that time period. Bastardo can get lefties and righties out and has virtually no platoon splits over the years. His velocity has dropped some, he is still fastball-slider dominant. He is in his last year of arb-eligibility and will be a free agent after the year.
The return is Joely Rodriguez a 6’1″ LHP coming off a rough AA campaign (4.84 ERA) but was dominant in the Arizona Fall League (2.38 ERA). His fastball is in the low-90s and has been up to 95. He has a slider and changeup, both of which project as average offerings. There are command and control issues (along with a mysterious aversion to missing bats) that need to be ironed out. It is a back of the rotation profile with a fall back that looks a lot like what Bastardo has been. Rodriguez likely gets another crack at AA where he joins a nice little collection of starting pitching with Nola, Biddle, Gonzalez, Morgan, and Pettibone that could all give the Phillies cheap back of the rotation starters going forward. Rodriguez is already on the 40 man roster, so this move does not open up any spots.
Overall a nice little return for the Phillies on a player with no room on their roster going forward. The Phillies have plenty of options to fill the lineup hole.
Liked new Phillies LHP Joely Rodriguez when I saw him recently in AFL: 91-95 t96, flashed 55 SL & 50 CH but CMD/delivery/consistency issues.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) December 10, 2014
Joely Rodriguez isn’t a bad little LHP to acquire. Lefty with mid-90s gas and a slider/changeup to boot. #Phillies
— Josh Norris 🐻 (@jnorris427) December 10, 2014
Newly-acquired LHP Joely Rodriguez is slated to start the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, according to Amaro. #Phillies
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) December 11, 2014
What are his command and control issues that make that disconcerting?
I am puzzled.
His BB/9 is 2.7 over 440 plus IP and if you factor out his age-17 first season in rookie ball, it lowers to almost 2.5. Further his HR/9 is exceptional at less then 1 per 9.
Probably is wild in the zone
pretty small sample size to say he was dominant in arizona. gave up 27 hits in 22 innings plus 6 walks. sounds like luck more than dominance
Change in approach, worked with Ray Burris (Phillies AAA Pitching Coach) on attacking batters with his stuff.
Why is he not showing up on the Phillies’ 40-man roster now several days after the trade?