It really pains me to say this but at this point I have to force myself-The Red Sox need to move Daniel Bard back to the bullpen. For the last month I’ve been a strong advocate of the Daniel Bard experiment but now I believe the Red Sox have to scratch the experiment.
Don’t get me wrong, Bard hasn’t been terrible and I still like the idea of him in the rotation but this bullpen just won’t work. Alfredo Aceves as the closer? Mark Melancon setting him up? Neither looked ready to play the part today and this looks like it could be a recurring theme. Did we really think Aceves was a closer anyways? We may have hoped he could be but I don’t think many actually thought he was the guy for the job. Save for a trade-which isn’t likely this early-there’s only one option.
Aaron Cook should get a shot in this rotation sooner than later and Daniel Bard needs to move into the back end of the bullpen.
Watching the Red Sox these first three games have shown me several things but one that I think is critical is this-theres nobody on this team that can put out fires, something Daniel Bard excelled at the past two seasons.
Mark Melancon and Alfredo Aceves have done more fire starting than extinguishing and they’re the setup and closer?
Aaron Cook pitched seven innings in a Triple-A game yesterday, so he’s stretched out plenty. Why not give him a shot at the fifth spot in the rotation? After all, can it get much worse?
The thought has been Aaron Cook will get the call before May 1 when the opt-out clause in his contract kicks in but the Red Sox need him now and they won’t have a chance until he’s in the rotation and Bard’s in the bullpen.
The look on Bobby Valentines face after Alex Avila hit a walk off two run homer on Easter Sunday told a story; He’s as concerned as we are. He knows that his bullpen is unstable and he may even be saying “I told ya so”, considering he didn’t think Daniel Bard should move out of the pen in the first place.
I’m not gonna punch the panic button just yet but I won’t lie–there were several foreign objects flying around my living room tonight after that home run. And to think I gained a little confidence in Mark Melancon after he recorded two outs in the inning only to get a good gut punch when the ball hit the railings just over the head of Cody Ross.
The point is simple, the Red Sox bullpen is horrific (7.94 ERA in 11 1/3 IP), the offense can’t score enough runs to get a “comfortable” lead and something has to change now before an 0-6 start is ever allowed to happen again.
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