Whats Wrong with Daniel Bard? Thats a Simple Question
By Editorial Staff
The reason there are very few elite set up and closers in all of baseball is because baseball is 80% mental and 20 % talent. Daniel Bard lost his MoJo. Will he get it back? Only time will tell. He wouldn’t be the first and certainly won’t be the last to encounter this problem. If he wants to regain his confidence, all he has to do is look at the person sitting right next to him in the bullpen, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon struggles lasted for nearly two years before he snapped out of it this year. Whether your a Red Sox fan or not, you have to feel for the man right now. You hate to see someone with so much talent just lose it in a blink of an eye.
I still think Bard can right the ship before the playoffs start. Most pitchers that have difficulty finding the plate don’t have a 98-100 mph fastball that Bard has in his repertoire. Set up and closers are easy targets for we Monday morning quarterbacks. They get the blame when they lose and very little credit when they win. That is why you can count on one hand how many relievers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lee Smith of the 478 career saves keeps getting overlooked year over year. John Franco and his 424 saves received so few votes in his first year of eligibility last year that he is no longer eligible to be on the ballot. A hitter will tell you that when they are in the zone the ball looks like the size of a beach ball and when in a slump looks like a pea. I can only imagine what a pitcher goes thru when he is on the mound with the game solely in their hand every time. Remember how painful it was to watch Rick Ankiel pitch a few years ago? Pitchers aren’t the only ones to fall victim of “where is the ball going now” syndrome. Remember when Chuck Knoblauch couldn’t make a routine throw from second base to first?
Now, I’m not saying that Daniel Bard is washed up already. I think and hope that this is just a slight slump and it will pass as quickly as it came. What I am worried about is that this couldn’t have come at a worst time in the season. With a Red Sox rotation of John Lackey, Tim Wakefield and Andrew Miller, relief pitching always comes into play. Daniel Bard is as important to this staff as anyone of their starters.
Bard knows what he means to this team, which I’m sure isn’t helping him sleep at night. I am a fan of Bard’s. I never thought he should replace Papelbon as the closer. Papelbon is one of the best in the game right now and should be for years to come. The tandem of Bard/Papelbon will be the key to how far this teams goes in October, enough said.
For all the latest news and analysis from BoSox Injection, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or with our RSS feed.