During the past four years, the pitcher had grown accustomed to relaxing in the hours leading up to games. There was no routine, no concern. He just ambled along to the bullpen with his fellow relievers.
That all changed during Tuesday's 5-4 win over the Orioles. Making his first official start of the season, Bard entered JetBlue Park and didn't have a clue how to spend his time prior to toeing the rubber for the Red Sox.
"I pretty much went up to everyone and asked them 'What am I supposed to be doing?,'" Bard said. "It was kind of a running joke throughout the day before."
But once he stepped onto the mound, Bard delivered another strong performance, pitching two hitless and scoreless frames. In the outing, the former reliever tossed 31 pitches, 21 of them for strikes.
At this point in spring training, the two-inning stint for pitchers is routine. But Bard said his right arm –– and shoulder, for that matter –– felt energized enough to last another frame.
Although Bard didn't practice his changeups, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was pleased with his transition from reliever to starter.
"Daniel's two-seamer was good, his four-seamer was good," Valentine said. "He threw four sliders, and they all did what he wanted them to do. He looked very comfortable on the mound, comfortable out of the windup."
Developing a pre-game routine? Well, that's still a work in progress.
"It's a totally different feeling I haven't had it in years," Bard said. "Just like getting to the park three hours before the game and having nothing to do for two hours, it was really weird. It's not a bad thing, it's just something you got to get used to.
"Every guy has their own thing. [John] Lackey walks around with no pants on, bounces a baseball, eats peanut butter and jelly. Jon Lester got his headphones in, but he's still walking around, talking to guys. Curt Schilling was a guy that nobody could talk to 'til the last pitch was thrown. I just try to be me whatever that is."
The challenge of possibly pitching a complete game still seems like uncharted territory for the 26-year-old. So to reassure himself, Bard uncovered old newspaper clips from his college days at North Carolina.
He would specifically scan the box scores of the articles, when he tossed complete games against Duke and North Carolina State.
"I'm not going to go out and guarantee any great success, but I'm not going to rule it out either," Bard said. "I can tell you in my mind I don't see any reason why I can't go out and be as good as anybody on this staff."
Bard intends to sharpen his changeup moving forward.
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