Young, homegrown talent competes for spot in Phillies bullpen

CLEARWATER, Fla. - In the aftermath of Antonio Bastardo's sparkling performance in the playoffs of the prestigious Dominican Winter League, Carlos Arroyo delivered him a message about his forthcoming fight for a major league roster spot.

"It's you - it's your job," said Arroyo, a Phillies minor league pitching instructor who helped coach Bastardo's winter league team. "You know you've got it now. You know that you've improved enough to belong there. Now it's your job to fight for that job and stay there."

In previous seasons, you couldn't have blamed Bastardo if he had responded with a roll of the eyes. Sure coach - I'll see you in the minors. But thanks to some rare daylight in the big-league bullpen, along with a deep pool of homegrown competitors here in spring training, the opportunity for a young, big-armed reliever like Bastardo to establish himself is very real.

"They're going to show us whether they are able to handle more responsibility," pitching coach Rich Dubee said.

Any way you slice the numbers, the conclusion remains the same: Over the past 4 years, the Phillies have fielded one of the most experienced - or, depending on your point of view, oldest - bullpens in the National League. Last season, their seven most frequently used relievers were all at least 28 years old, and six of them were older than 30. Over the last four seasons, the Phillies' bullpens have averaged 32.9 years of age, the oldest in the National League. In each of the last three seasons, four of their five most-called-upon relievers have been at least 30 years old, the only such situation in the NL.

Rather than relying on young, homegrown players, the Phillies have leaned on established veterans acquired via trade (Brad Lidge, Scott Eyre) or signed as free agents (Chan Ho Park, Tom Gordon, Rudy Seanez and Chad Durbin, to name a few). And, for the most part, the formula has worked. Since 2006, the Phillies rank fourth in the National League with a 3.87 bullpen ERA. In 2008, when a bullpen that led the NL with a 3.22 ERA played a big role in their first World Series title since 1980, righthander Ryan Madson was the only homegrown player - drafted or signed by the team as an amateur free agent - to make more than five relief appearances.

But last year, things began to change as the bullpen struggled with injuries. With veterans Lidge, Park, Durbin, J.C. Romero and Clay Condrey spending time on the disabled list, young lefties Bastardo and Sergio Escalona were forced to make their major league debuts. Escalona, 25, was called up on six different occasions and finished the season with a 4.61 ERA in 14 appearances, but held opponents scoreless in 11 of those outings. Meanwhile, Bastardo, 24, first cracked the roster in June, when he made five starts in place of injured righthander Brett Myers. After spending 3 months on the disabled list with a shoulder strain, he returned as a reliever, pitching a scoreless inning against the Marlins on the final weekend of the regular season, then facing two batters in the postseason while spending all three rounds of the playoffs on the active roster.

"Like any organization, you want to promote from within," Dubee said. "You want to develop your own talent. And I think we're heading in the right direction with those guys."

As it turns out, last season was merely a prelude for the Grapefruit League schedule, when Bastardo and Escalona will compete against a group of relievers that includes at least two other homegrown candidates for the final bullpen vacancy. While the Phillies once again will rely heavily on a pair of free-agent acquisitions - righthander Danys Baez signed for 2 years and $5.25 million, and righthander Jose Contreras signed for 1 year and $1.5 million - to bolster incumbents Lidge, Madson, Durbin and Romero, they opted against signing a third veteran in favor of letting their young players compete.

"It's just like anything else," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "The more guys we can develop in our system, the better. The more guys you can develop, whether or not they are starters or relievers, obviously that's great for your costs and makes it a lot easier to give you a little bit more flexibility."

Sheer numbers suggest that the Phillies, at the very least, have a higher number of young relievers ready to compete. Last spring, the organization invited eight homegrown pitchers to spring training, only two of whom were projected for the bullpen. Of the 11 homegrown pitchers in camp this year, five (Bastardo, Escalona, lefty Mike Zagurski, and righties Scott Mathieson and B.J. Rosenberg) are relievers.

Zagurski, a 12th-round draft pick out of the University of Kansas in 2005, went 1-0 with a 5.91 ERA in 25 games for the Phillies in 2007, but spent much of the next year-and-a-half battling hamstring and elbow injuries. Now 27, he posted a 3.57 ERA and struck out 63 in 45 appearances at Double A Reading last year. Mathieson, meanwhile, started eight games for the Phillies in 2006, but is attempting an improbable comeback after two Tommy John surgeries. The 26-year-old went 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in 22 minor league relief appearances late last season, then drew raves for his performance in the Arizona Fall League. Still, the Phillies say they are cautious about rushing Mathieson back.

Which brings us back to Bastardo and Escalona, two natives of the Dominican Republic signed as amateur free agents. Escalona has experience on his side, having spent the past two seasons as a full-time reliever. Bastardo, on the other hand, has momentum.

Having already shown flashes of brilliance on the big-league level - he held the Padres to four hits in six innings while relying almost exclusively on a low-to-mid-90s fastball in his debut - Bastardo spent much of the offseason working on his slider. Arroyo, who coached Bastardo on the Gigantes del Cibao, said the strides he made in his command of the pitch was a big factor in the winter league playoffs, when he struck out 12 batters and walked just one in 7 1/3 innings.

"He can use it to start a count, he can use it to finish," Arroyo said. "Now, he just doesn't rely on his fastball."

Asked what characteristics he will be looking for in Bastardo this spring, Dubee responded, in a nutshell, poise and command.

"He's got plenty of stuff," Dubee said. "Plenty of stuff. He's got a nice presence. Command, like any young player is going to be the issue."

Bastardo, Dubee said, has the potential to develop into a back-of-the-bullpen reliever, something the Phillies' farm system last produced in Madson. Over the last 3 years, Madson has developed into the team's chief set-up man, with 193 appearances and a 3.12 ERA. But 6 years ago, he was in a situation similar to Bastardo - a converted starter looking for his first significant big-league action at age 23.

The biggest necessity for making the jump, Madson said earlier this week, was "the will to show everybody that you belong here."

It's a message that has already been sent.