Rockies right-hander Daniel Bard is going to begin the season on the injured list due to anxiety, reports Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (Twitter links). Righty Jake Bird has been recalled to take Bard’s place on the active roster. Allentuck adds that outfielder Jurickson Profar is not yet with the team in San Diego, though he can’t be replaced on the active roster.
“It’s a hard thing to admit,” Bard tells Allentuck. “But I’ve been through this before. I have enough going on outside the game to realize what’s important … I’m extremely grateful to be in an organization that understands these things and is accepting.”
Bard, 38 in June, pitched for the Red Sox from 2009 to 2013 but a case of “the yips” caused him to struggle in the latter parts of that span. His walk rate shot up to 15.5% in 2012 and then was even worse the year after. He only made a couple of appearances at the big league level in 2013 before getting sent to the minors, eventually walking a third of opponents down on the farm the rest of the way.
He didn’t pitch in the majors for many years but resurfaced with the Rockies in 2020. He posted a 3.65 ERA in 23 appearances that season, striking out 25.5% of batters faced, walking 9.4% of them and getting grounders at a 48.5% clip. He took a bit of a step back in 2021, with his walk rate jumping to 11.8% and his ERA spiking to 5.21%. But he got back on track tremendously in 2022, with a 1.79 ERA and 10.2% walk rate. He also struck out 28.2% of batters faced, got grounders on 51.7% of balls in play and racked up 34 saves on the year. His name popped up in some trade rumors as he was set to his free agency after last year, but he and the Rockies agreed to a two-year, $19MM extension.
Though the Rockies surely don’t want to be without their closer, Bard’s comments indicate that they’re prioritizing his health now that his anxiety has reoccured. Thomas Harding of MLB.com relays that Bard is still with the team and doing his normal throwing. That means it’s possible he’ll return whenever he feels he has his anxiety managed. MLBTR wishes him the best in that process.
Quickly turning to Profar, he didn’t have much of a spring because he was playing with Team Netherlands during the World Baseball Classic while still unsigned. He eventually signed with the Rockies but was delayed in joining the club in camp due to visa issues. He eventually did report to the team’s facilities in Arizona and is apparently still there, per Harding, continuing to get at-bats in minor league games. Harding adds that the decision on when Profar joins will be done “by feel.” It seems the club will play with a shortened three-man bench until then.
I feel for the guy anxiety is awful hope he can get it under control
Remove – He’s beaten it once before, he can beat it again.
I’m anxious just reading this. Recurring problem.
I remember Jim Eisenreich and his Tourette battle & he was amazing. Best for Bard
Anyone know how long a team has to carry a player that is having visa issues before they can replace him on the roster?
anxiety is a monster. i hope he takes the time he needs to bounce back.
Anxiety lol. Hopefully the Rockies won’t pay him while he’s out.
Also hopefully Rockies management won’t come out and say something ridiculous like “we love Bard and his family. They are great people. Baseball is second to this mans health and mental well being. He needs to take all the time he needs to fight this and come back when he’s ready. We are here to assist any way we can because we love him and his family.” Lol.
Yeah that’d be terrible if they treated him like a human being. /s
As a fellow anxiety sufferer and know lots of people it has hurt badly, please do your homework. Read a book on it or study some videos. Ignorance isn’t an excuse. Get educated.
I hope posting this comment helped give you a brief moment of joy to help fill that void in your life!
No it’s nothing like that but thanks for thinking about me!
Retired, how long you been an idiot?
That’s all you got out of that? You think I’m like you?
Hey, retire – the 1950s called and miss your brand of profound uneducated ignorance.
Lol.
Your post disgusts me.
There is nothing funny about crippling anxiety. He is with the team, working out and working through his anxiety, so of course he will get paid, and he should.
We’ve made some good strides with mental health awareness, particularly in the past decade. But just imagine how much further along we’d be if people like you didn’t impede progress. What do you get out of regarding a person as lesser because they struggle mentally?
Lol.
I checked these Bard comments solely to harvest Commenters to mute in order to make the 2023 season more enjoyable while simultaneously reducing the risk of reading abject nonsense.
Tag, Mr. LOL. You’re it.
Now if I could just glean the 3 other authors who gave those 4 likes – the 4th being your own, of course.
Be careful not to cut yourself on that edge, kid.
Lol
Saw this coming with his performance in the WBC.
Yep too bad Altuve didn’t see it coming before he broke his thumb. He had nothing in the WBC.
He would need a buzzer for that.
Exactly what I was thinking. It looked like the yips for sure because he was all over the place.
I blame the WBC. No way does he get anxious from ST games.
Altuve certainly felt his anxiety filled fast ball !
He’s man enough to admit that he’s struggling emotionally and tbh that’s a sign of maturity. I really enjoyed seeing him come back to baseball after being gone all of those years and I’m rooting for him to get back where he needs to be.
Actually, it’s a sign of immaturity. If he really needs the time off, he should give the money he makes in that time off to the stressed and homeless on the streets. That would be a good relief from such a hard, tough game.
He’s allowed the time off, I get it. Now make good use of it and give back to relieve the stress.
There’s nothing immature about admitting that you’re struggling. Since you’re suddenly concerned about the stressed and homeless, you should look into donating yourself.
I occasionally donate or have in the past but I also don’t make millions and have a much more stressful and meaningful job than a leisure game. Yes, I was harsh in what I said but there are people in much more need of help.
I’m expecting to get thumbs downs but I felt I needed to speak it. He’s entitled to his time, I just think it’s a little farfetched we make a big deal out of it.
I stand corrected. I have not directly donated to the poor but have helped in soup kitchens, donated things, and have paid money occasionally to fundraisers.
I actually run a soup kitchen
You want bread?!? THREE DOLLARS!!!
BloomBFF What’s your “more stressful and meaningful job”?
Does it really matter? Everyone middle class is hurting and we have to listen to million dollar ball players talk about having anxiety. That’s the point.
I’m a teacher though. We get highly underpaid and I don’t complain about it. Like the job I have.
I could not imagine having anxiety and playing in the MLB – let alone closing games. Best wishes to Bard.
Weird comment.
No it’s not weird. It’s how most of us adults feel. How old are you retired?
Even weirder.
I’ll hazard a guess and say 13.
Weird comment? You’re a moron. I suffer from anxiety every day. I have ups and downs. I could not imagine the pressure of closing games with such an illness.
Wow.
All the Rockies fans feel the same way as Bard.
He gets paid way too much to have anxiety. If I used that excuse in a job that pays far less and is more stressful than hitting a ball and running bases, I think I would be out of a job.
These guys… really….
Waiting for the incoming thumbs downs. I don’t care, I speak middle class reality, not from making millions playing a game every day.
And the medical staff has bee doing what….
The difference is people don’t pay to watch you flip burgers so you shouldn’t feel too anxious.
He clearly doesn’t want to hit another player because he has the yips. He’s overcame it before and is taking care of it before it becomes a habit. Anxiety that causes Bard to be wild is hazardous to others health and everyone in baseball understands a case of the yips isn’t just a little anxiety.
Not getting the reference at all…
“Hey, you guys have a Range Rover. We’ll take your Range Rover and we’ll give you our Honda Accord.” And teams expect you to do that. Why would we do that? “How could you not trade your Range Rover?” Because we might try to keep our Range Rover! Rather than trade it for your Subaru!
get well, find your inner peace.
The Tigers had a hard throwing lefty reliever named Kevin Saucier back in the early 80s..Nicknamed Hot Sauce by Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson Saucier could really bring it but suddenly lost control of his fastball.Saucier decided to quit the game because he feared he could kill someone with his pitching.Said it was the best decision he ever made.
The awful thing about anxiety is the physiological. The rapid heart rate, the shortness of breath, the tensing of your muscles. Essentially the body positioning itself to either flight or fight. For no apparent reason. If you are a flighter, that body process causes you to withdraw and isolate yourself away from everything. If you are a fighter, you snap at people over nothing, and then have to deal with the guilt and social ramifications that comes with that. All the while you have the mindf@ck of not understanding why it’s going on. “I’ve got nothing in my life that warrants this physical feeling. WTF is going on !!”
No fun at all, and in my country, it’s predominately effecting middle aged men with seemingly everything to live for. Every day, men down here are escaping it by hanging themselves in their garage. Too common a thing to treat flippantly.
All the best to Mr Bard.
He needs a massive dose of psychedelic healing, it’s the cure to overcoming the fears that induce the anxiety. We all have the code built into us to release us from this prison we are all born into and from the lies we tell ourselves. We just need to unlock it. Few know how naturally, especially in America, so there’s only one other way…
Thank you foppert for the very accurate description of how chronic anxiety can make life unbearable. I think you implied it, but I would add that it often leads to chronic depression. It’s truly inspirational how far Bard came back to become a terrific pitcher again. Unfortunately, like most psychological conditions, the illness is never cured but only managed in the best outcomes.