Naw, Bastardo has never had the temperament for a closer and in fact it was in a closing role that his downfall with the Phils began. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was in late August of 2011 and of course things had been going almost perfect for the Phils up to this weekend in Washington. It was a strange weekend, almost a foreboding of what was to come in October.
The first game on a Friday night the Phils led all the way till the bottom of the 9th when closer Ryan Madson blew a 4-2 lead and surrendered a grand slam with two out and the Phils lost 8-4. Saturday night, Roy Oswalt, in one of his best games of the year, won 5-0 and it was on Sunday that Bastardo began his descent.
Up to this game he had been incredibly dominant and that Sunday game was very strange. Roy Halladay started but left after 5 with a 3-2 lead because it rained and stopped the game for over an hour. Mike Schwimer came in for his debut I believe and immediately gave up a tying home run but then was solid and it appeared he would get his first major league victory when in typical [to this point] Phillie fashion they took a 4-3 lead and turned the game over to Bastardo in the bottom of the 9th.
I recall I was following it on streaming live as per his dominance all year he struck out the first two hitters and had two strikes on I believe it was Danny Espinosa and then surrendered a home run. I was stunned and I suspect, so was he. He struck out the next hitter but Lidge gave up a run in the bottom of the 10th and the Phils lost 5-4.
Bastardo struggled the rest of the year, never did save a game that year and was really never the dominant guy we saw till that fateful pitch. I know that many still put little stock in the mental aspect of the game but not me. He lost something that day and never completely found it again. Since then, he has been decent but inconsistent and never a closer candidate.
If its closing you wish, Bastardo is not your guy.
