In six of his last seven starts, the Red Sox right-hander had lost complete control of his pitches, tallying more walks than strikeouts. It came to the point where opposing hitters were in danger of suffering injuries.
On Sunday in Toronto, Yunel Escobar and Edwin Encarnacion were the unfortunate victims of Bard’s erratic throws. Through 11 starts, Bard had nailed eight batters with pitches, tying White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd for the major league high.
With all the opposing batters getting beaned, the Red Sox hitters were forced to deal with the consequences, too. Bard learned that lesson quickly, when Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison fired away at Kevin Youkilis with a pitch.
At this point, Bard’s woes have spilled over onto the team. For that reason, the Red Sox optioned Bard — who is 5-6 with a 5.24 ERA — to Pawtucket to correct his mechanics and regain confidence.
Now, Bard will have the opportunity to correct those results away from the pressure-packed environment of Fenway Park. As Bard heads down to the tranquility that is Triple-A, the Red Sox are urging him to go back to the basics.
“When I talked to him a little bit, it was [just], ‘Keep it simple, what got you to this point is what you need to get back to whatever, whether it’s a starter or a reliever,'” pitching coach Bob McClure said. “[He shouldn’t] try to do too many things — attack the strike zone, maybe with just two pitches and perhaps a third with the changeup.”
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine voiced a similar message.
“We’ve talked about all the people that work with him, and obviously we want to simplify it,” Valentine said. “But simplifying it doesn’t — that doesn’t mean the right answers are going to be given to him if it’s totally simplified.”
The recurring theme is simplicity. As much as Bard disagreed with the team’s decision to demote him, the right-hander can’t simplify his mechanical miscues on the fly. That would entail jeopardizing victories with each start.
And in reality, Bard had every single chance to rectify the mistakes and avoid this last resort. Last week, the 26-year-old attempted to tweak his mechanical delivery in side sessions with McClure.
Clearly, it didn’t work, since the walks are still mounting. The bases on balls, though, have been piling up since spring training, when Bard first started his transition to the starting rotation.
For weeks, Valentine said the walks were unacceptable. After Sunday’s debacle, the skipper had exhausted every option and needed to make a move, especially since Boston doesn’t want Bard to become the second coming of Joba Chamberlain.
As of this moment, Bard’s future role for the Red Sox remains unclear. Although Valentine expressed his intention to have Bard start in Triple-A, he didn’t mouth the words with much conviction.
All Bard can do is take advantage of life outside the spotlight. It starts with keeping it simple and going back to the basics.
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