Veteran right-hander Daniel Bard missed the 2024 season after undergoing surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right elbow. He sat down with Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring Podcast eight months ago to discuss how the injury impacts his mindset, his daily routine and to give an inside look into the life of an injured pitcher. He also suggested within that his recovery would be about a full year. That timetable still seems largely the same. Bradford reports this morning that Bard is planning to resume throwing off a mound early next month. He’s hopeful of signing with a team in April and pitching in games not long after.
Bard’s surgery repaired only his flexor tendon and not his ulnar collateral ligament, the pitcher himself told Bradford in that interview. He’d been pitching through elbow pain for some time but reached a point where he could no longer complete a bullpen session. An MRI revealed the need for surgical repair.
Now 39 years old, Bard posted elite results as recently as 2022, when he notched a dominant 1.79 ERA with a 28.2% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in 60 1/3 innings for the Rockies. His 34 saves that season were a career-high and ranked sixth in all of baseball. He was a heavily speculated trade candidate that summer, given his status as an impending free agent on a non-contending Colorado club, but the Rox inked Bard to a two-year, $19MM extension instead.
Clearly, that deal didn’t pan out. Bard was brilliant in April and May the following season before taking a step back in June/July and cratering in August and September. The righty told Bradford he was pitching through elbow pain for much of that 2023 season.
Since returning from a six-year absence in the major leagues back in 2020, Bard has been inconsistent but effective on the whole. He sports a 3.83 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and a bloated 13.5% walk rate that’s skewed by the 21.1% walk rate he logged in ’23 while pitching through elbow pain and anxiety. Bard attributed his dominant 2022 showing to scrapping his four-seamer and changing the arm slot on his sinker; if he can get back to anything close to that form, he’d be a bargain for anyone who signs him.
That’s far from a given, of course, but the most recently healthy version of Bard we saw was one of the best relievers in the sport. Given that he’s going to wait until he’s close to game-ready to sign, it’s possible Bard will sign a prorated big league deal and then consent to be optioned when April rolls around. Presumably, he’ll host a workout/showcase for interested teams at that point. He’s spent the past four years in the Rockies organization and spoke fondly of his time there and his teammates with the club, which could give the Rox a leg up if they’re interested in a reunion, but a healthy Bard should draw interest from a wide range of teams.
Hey good to hear Bard is still going. He’s had a lot to overcome. Rooting for him.
Sal – Same here, I was so excited about him when he came up.
And I was there in Toronto for the game he imploded, the crowd reaction was cruel and totally uncalled for as it was quite obvious he wasn’t intentionally trying to hit any Jays batters. He never fully recovered from that abuse from the Toronto crowd.
Sox seem to love recovering pitchers. Is there a better redemption story than Bard ending his career on a good note with Boston? I see another Netflix video…
Same. He had a few years in the minors where he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a banjo. Always nice to see guys rise up and overcome their problems.
Was a big Daniel Bard fan when he was here in Boston (remember when someone touching 100mph was a rarity?). Never could understand why they tried to make a pitcher with his profile into a starter. Glad he was able to find his stuff again in recent years, here’s to one more comeback.
Meow – Same reason Bloom wanted Whitlock to be a starting pitcher and therefore gave him a bloated SP contract extension, because SP’s are far more valuable than relievers. There’s an old saying that every reliever is a failed starter.
Yanks did the same thing with a guy named Joba.
Good luck!
This has AA written all over it.
Sox should give him a fat contract to make up for f’ing up his career.
cg – Bard would need to have TJS first before the Sox give him a fat contract.
It would be a happy Shakespeare ending for him to sign with the Red Sox as a RELIEF PITCHER.
All’s well that ends well if he goes to the Twins.
And so forth and so on.
Interesting line at Hickory (Tex A ball) in 2014. 0.2 innings, 9 BB, 7HBP. At what point does the umpire throw a pitcher out of the game for safety reasons, not because he thinks the pitcher is intentionally hitting people? I’m going to assume there was no one left in the bullpen, but, hey, put the right fielder in to pitch.
depl – I think the better question is how many guys need to be hit or walked before batters start bailing as soon as the ball is released?
One thing is for sure … if I’m facing Bard and 4 of my teammates have already been hit by him, there’s no way I’m giving him a chance to make me the 5th.
You have to root for a guy like this.
I wonder if the A’s setup with the AAA and MLB teams at the same facilities would be an advantage here.
Halos – Tampa would be even better for Bard. Pitching in front of only 5K or so people, and he’d have to throw only a few pitches before the rain delays.
Rockies- I’ve seen enough, here’s 20m for another two years.
Daniel Bard succeeded by mastering the Roger Beshens Football Slider but Bard is missing an important method to keep himself healthy.
He should contact Roger Beshens.
Roger Beshens discussed his football slider to Steve Foster behind the plate at a Dbacks game. It might be a good idea to hire Roger Beshens to help keep the pitchers healthy.
He’s saying Roger Beshens is off his meds again, if anyone can understand that it’d be you Bobby. Ahahahahaha!
It’s funny how you mix up medications and facts.
There might be a medication that can help you.
Hmmm, perhaps you’re right Raj, let me get back to ya. Ahahahahaha!
Gotta root for em but he’s got some screaming red flags. Like having such serious control issues that it nearly cost em his career, has always had alota walks, has had crises w/anxiety, n now coming back from having ligament reattached to elbow. Be surprised if he got more than minor league invite. We’ll see.
Bard would be the perfect pick up for the cubs now that predictably sasaki is off the board
I think im gonna go throw off a mound just to see what happens.