BOSTON — One outing shouldn't define a regression for Daniel Bard, probably just the same as one outing isn't a sure sign of progress.
BOSTON — One outing shouldn't define a regression for Daniel Bard, probably just the same as one outing shouldn't define progress.
The Red Sox right-handed reliever walked the only two batters he faced Saturday night in an 8-4 Red Sox win over Houston, after his first outing was a positive. He had one strikeout and one hit in an inning of work Thursday.
Bard came on for top of the eighth inning with Boston up 8-3 and threw six straight balls, the first four to Carlos Pena. Pitching coach Juan Nieves ran out to the mound for a meeting. Bard threw one strike to Carlos Corporan, then bounced the next pitch. One more pitch later, Bard walked Corporan, and that was all.
“My slot got a little high," Bard said Sunday night. "I was locked in in the bullpen, I was throwing it as good as I can throw the ball and then I got into the game and it probably creeped up a little high, which is usually not what I want to be doing. Just a matter of adjusting it back to a lower slot. It’s nice when you’re able to recognize it right away, get to work and fix it for the next time.”
Nine pitches, all fastballs, one strike. Alex Wilson came on and let in one run before striking out pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel with the bases loaded.
“Right from the get-go, Daniel didn’t settle into a delivery," manager John Farrell said. "We saw him cut a couple fastballs the first couple pitches he threw, then some pitches got away from him. You’ve got a five-run lead but you don’t want to let things unravel too quick. Alex (Wilson) comes in and is almost the flip side of that. Challenges hitters, throws the ball over the plate. Gets a big strikeout after the infield base hit by Altuve [sic] to strike out Ankiel. He’s doing a very good job. He’s not fearing the situation that he walks into."
Bard may well still have a roadblock or roadblocks — something mental, physical or a likely combination thereof — inhibiting him on the mound. Certainly that was the case last year, when his walk rate doubled to 6.5 per nine innings from 3 and 3.6 the previous two seasons.
Ankiel set the standard for pitchers who lost it on the mound during the 2000 playoffs, when he missed the strikezone not by a little, but with a barrage of wild pitches as a pitcher for the Cardinals.
It's not impossible that Bard's dealing with some inhibition similar to Ankiel, but Ankiel didn't see any similarity.
"No, not really," Ankiel said Saturday night, "I see the catcher catching it" — a nod to the fact that Bard's missing, but he's not missing egregiously.
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