Antonio Bastardo is not having his best season.
The hope for the 27-year-old coming into the 2013 season was that he would continue to be the mostly-shutdown lefty who could be counted upon, coming into games to handle the likes of Jason Heyward or Bryce Harper (and keep righties muted, too). Instead, Bastardo’s strikeouts are down, his walks are up and he’s permitting a .374 OBP against entering Friday.
So, um, what the heck? What happened to the guy whose stuff was so nasty he permitted just 68 hits in 110 IP from 2011-12?