Phillies, Bastardo avoid arbitration with one-year deal

The Phillies and left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo agreed to a one-year, 1.4 million deal to avoid arbitration, assistant GM Scott Proefrock announced Friday.

With Bastardo signed, the Phillies have no more arbitration-eligible players. The team had three, but avoided arbitration with infielder Kevin Frandsen, signing him for 850,000 in early November, and non-tendered Nate Schierholtz, who has since signed with the Cubs.

Bastardo, 27, had a 4.33 ERA in 65 appearances last season, striking out a ridiculous 81 batters in 52 innings. But his 26 walks were too many, and he allowed 6.3 hits per nine innings after allowing just 4.3 the year before.

Bastardo was mostly unhittable in 2011, when he had a 0.79 ERA after 37 appearances and a 0.99 ERA as late as July 19. But an 8.71 ERA over his final 13 regular-season appearances with 20 baserunners in 10 innings was a worrisome sign to end the season.

Bastardo's fastball velocity was down a bit last season, to 91.8 mph from 92.5 the year prior. Batters bit on his slider less, swinging at four percent fewer pitches outside the strike zone, according to Fangraphs.

Still, Bastardo finished third in all of baseball among relievers with 14.0 strikeouts-per-nine, and over his last 18 appearances had a 1.29 ERA with 27 strikeouts to just four walks.

This was Bastardo's first year of arbitration eligibility. He is controlled by the Phillies through the end of the 2015 season.