Daniel Bard Likely Heading Back To The Bullpen
During the offseason many questions were raised about the Boston Red Sox ability to assemble a competitive starting rotation. While the Red Sox did not add a starting pitcher, they made it clear that Daniel Bard was going to be moved to the rotation, giving them a high ceiling arm in the back of their rotation.
While Spring Training statistics are often misleading due to the small sample size, it’s clear that Bard’s conversion has not been remotely successful. In 12 2/3 innings Bard has a team leading 10 walks compared to 6 strikeouts, has allowed 11 hits and a 7.11 ERA. According to Sean McAdam, executives within the Red Sox organization believe that Felix Doubront and Alfredo Aceves will earn a rotation spot at the expense of Daniel Bard. Despite boasting one of the shallowest rotations in years, the Red Sox are prepared to send Bard back to the pen rather than attempt to let him start every fifth game.
It gets worse for Bard, as McAdam also noted some key issues that manager Bobby Valentine had with his performance in the spring:
He wondered aloud why Bard threw exactly one changeup among his 83 pitches.
“He’s got to understand that pitch,” said Valentine. “It could really be that pitch that gets the contact when we need some soft contact situations.”
He later noted that Bard’s 83 pitches were “too many” over five innings, introducing questions about the righthander’s efficiency.
He expressed concern with Bard’s control issues.
“I don’t think that even with his good stuff I could handle the walks,” said Valentine. “Now I don’t know if they’re (the result of it being) spring and trying to impress. That’s why I looked for the changeup. If there’s a pitch that he wasn’t comfortable with and that was causing some of these negative counts, I would have been able to use that as an excuse.
The issue with the change up might be Bard’s biggest hurdle at this point. As a reliever Bard only needed to use his change up 7% of the time last year, relying primarily on his fastball slider combo. But as a starter Bard needs to be able to use his change up to get left handed batters out. Over his career Bard has a 4.09 FIP against left handed hitters, which is significantly worse than his 2.72 FIP against right handed batters. So the fact that Bard is getting shelled in Spring Training, and only threw one change up over 83 pitches, shows that he isn’t ready to start in the majors. You can’t get Major League hitters out just with your fastball, and until Bard learns that he will never be successful as a starter.
The pitch efficiency is another issue that Bard wouldn’t have to worry about as a reliever. But as a starter, if he can’t keep his pitch count down then he’ll be taken out in the fifth inning far too often. Getting a strikeout is the best way to get an out, but getting deep into a game is a priority and Bard hasn’t figured out that he needs to induce weak contact early in the count to give him a chance of getting into the 6th or 7th inning.
Alfredo Aceves will likely earn a starting role as a result of Bard’s inability to succeed as a starter. Unfortunately, this is the last thing that the Red Sox needed in their already compromised rotation. For his career, Aceves has a 4.94 FIP as a starter compared to a 3.87 FIP as a reliever. Not only does Aceves not have the ability to throw 200 innings, but he’s essentially a replacement level pitcher who will be in the #4 spot of the Sox rotation. His stuff just isn’t good enough when he’s used as a starter, and the Red Sox are going to figure out very quickly that like Bard, Aceves should remain in the bullpen.
Having Aceves in the rotation is bad enough for the Sox, but now they’re using Doubront there as well. Doubront is a southpaw who has had very little success in the majors, and his upside is limited to that of a #5 starter. And like Aceves, Doubront has never thrown 200 innings – so he’ll need to be shut down at some point.
This is a disaster in the making for Boston. It’s inexcusable for a team with their resources to be relying on Aceves and Doubront in the rotation. Having them for purposes of depth is one thing, but starting the season with them in the rotation is a complete and utter embarrassment. Daniel Bard never should have been put in a position where he was being counted on to be a starter, as his in mentality is throw it hard, harder and hardest. Aceves is a solid pitcher when used properly, but when he’s exposed in the rotation he’s completely ineffective. It’s mind boggling how the Red Sox are in a position where they only have three major league calibre starting pitchers in their rotation with less than 3 weeks to go before the season starts.
It cannot be stressed enough how damaging it is to have Doubront and Aceves in the same rotation. This is the kind of move that will all but guarantee that the best the Red Sox can do is finish in third place. And if Josh Beckett or Jon Lester miss any significant time, they might end up behind the Toronto Blue Jays.
With Doubront and Aceves in the same rotation, it’s unlikely that any playoff contenders will be Shippin Up To Boston in October.
Bryan Lutz also wrote on Daniel Bard earlier today.
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Mark Hock or is it Mark the “Hack”?? Who the hell are you? Aceves won 10 GAMES last year, do you remember that? He pitched about two-thirds of the innings that Beckett, Lester, and any other of the so-called “aces” of the crew and look at what he did. This article is more Bard bullshit. This kid should not have been given the chance to start, he needs to go down to the minor leagues and PROVE he can pitch. Aceves is a grown man and he is a warrior and he has clever, nasty little ways in which fool batters into crapping out at the plate. Enough of the 5.00 ERA arguments from two or three years ago. this is the NOW. Aceves is currently the BEST pitcher out of all these clowns pitching for the Sox. Lester get hit DUDE. Beckett is an every-other year wonder. Do you want a pretty boy with a golden beard on the mound or a tough mofo like Aceves the ACE dealing?? You dont know anything about pitching and your arguments are not backed by stats. Dont publish bullshit until you learn your STATS!
I’m well aware that Aceves won 10 games. Unfortunately, this isn’t the 1980′s where win/loss record is remotely meaningful. As a starter, Aceves had a 5.14 ERA in 2011 compared to a 2.14 ERA coming out of the bullpen. We’re not talking advanced stats here. We’re not talking 5 years ago. We’re talking last year. Aceves simply isn’t good in the rotation.
As for Bard in the rotation – sending him down to the minors is a waste of time. It’s just not going to happen. Bard simply doesn’t have what it takes to make it in the rotation. You can want him to start all you like, but at the end of the day, he’s a 2 pitch pitcher. And guys without a third pitch – and let’s not kid ourselves, a guy who isn’t willing to use his change up when he’s getting shelled has no confidence in it – don’t succeed as a starter.
Aceves is one of the worst starting pitching options the Sox have. Buchholz, Lester and Beckett are all significantly better than him. He may have won a bunch of games out of the pen, but he sure didn’t help his team win when he started a game. If he won a game that he started, it was cause the offence bailed him out.
I appreciate you taking the time to post, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t expect Aceves to do a good job, and he’s proven he’s significantly better out of the bullpen. A 5.14 ERA out of the rotation last year, which is what he did, simply isn’t going to cut it.