The Bard Experiment is Finally Over

Daniel Bard, Red Sox reliever-turned-starter, called team general manager Ben Cherington to tell him to call off the experiment.  His days as a starter were over.

Out of the gate, he earned a 5-6 record, with a 5.24 ERA.  His fastball went from 98-101 miles per hour down to topping out around 95.

"I'm not ready even to say it failed. Obviously I wasn't our best starter, but I wasn't the worst guy in the American League by any means, either," Bard said. "Yeah, I wish I could've had a couple of those outings back, but I had some good starts, too. I proved to myself that I can do it. Obviously I wanted it to be able to stick, but it didn't, and here I am."

I admire his positive outlook, but he has to know he's much more useful out of the 'pen.  With any pitching role, you have to have a certain mindset going into it.  Bard's was tailored for the 7th and 8th innings, so taking him out of his comfort zone was going to come with some consequences.  But hopefully Bard can get reacclimated to the bullpen and be the Bard of old once again.