Watching a train wreck
Disastrous is closer to the truth.
Last night at Double A Portland, Daniel Bard put up his worst minor league outing yet. He walked five batters, threw two wild pitches, and gave up two runs in one plus innings. Only eight of thirty pitches were thrown for strikes.
He went in for the 6th inning, got through that, came back out for the 7th and walked the bases loaded before throwing a wild pitch. He was pulled from the game, but the train was already completely off the rails.
In five appearances, he has walked 13 in 32 1/3 innings, it just doesn't get any worse that this. He is starting to get compared to legendary meltdowns like Rick Ankiel.
The scary part of all of this is how fast he went off the rails. Last year he had a 3-4 record as a starting pitcher with a 4.30 ERA. This years numbers are terrifying and I don't even want to put them up here.
The Red Sox are not yet giving up on him, they seem to realize it will take time. He was not even part of the discussion when the Red Sox were looking to back up their injured closer, though Daniel Bard was backing up Jonathan Papelbon as the closer a few years ago.
Will Daniel Bard make it back? Will he find his control? Will it happen this year? Will he be able to have any impact for the Red Sox in 2013? Are we looking at the final train wreck of his career?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Post a comment or hit me up on twitter @ericschabell with your thoughts.
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