After a strong rookie season in 2009, the hard-throwing righty is due for a promotion in the Red Sox' bullpen. Billy Wagner is gone; Takashi Saito is gone as well. Bard, at the tender age of 24, is set to become the Red Sox' prime eighth-inning guy, the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon.
The Red Sox bullpen has been through a lot this winter. First, it watched Wagner jump ship in early December, bolting off to Atlanta before Saito did the same. The Sox nearly went to arbitration with three key pieces of their bullpen, figuring things out in the 11th hour and signing new deals with Papelbon, Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen.
After all the dust had settled, Bard was relieved that the Sox bullpen was all set and ready to focus on 2010. And he was thrilled to have Papelbon, a four-time All-Star, back in the fold.
"As much negative attention as he might get for the some of the stuff he says, he’s a great guy to have on the team," Bard told the Boston Herald last week. "He’s a competitor. He’s ready every day to throw. And really, he’s a good guy for me to watch personally.
"I have aspirations of hopefully closing some day, whether it’s here or somewhere else, because as a reliever, that’s the ultimate goal. And who better to watch than a guy who’s a four-time All-Star and has closed out World Series games?"
That's the spirit. In Papelbon, Bard has a mentor, a fellow closer he can look up to while he learns the tricks of the trade. On pure talent alone, Bard has what it takes to be a closer himself someday: the blistering fastball, the biting control, the competitive edge. All he needs is some time to grow.
Last year, Bard got his first taste of the major leagues. He threw a total of 49 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Red Sox — enough to get adjusted to the big-league game, but not so much as to burn him out. Slowly but surely, he's taking steps toward becoming an All-Star closer. He has the potential to get there, but it's a work in progress. Filling the setup role is the next baby step for Bard.
"I’m trying not to look at it too much differently, but it’ll be a little bit different, sure," Bard told the Providence Journal this week. "I think the comfort will be there. I know all the guys I’m around now, rather than last year, I pretty much had to keep my mouth shut, being a non-roster invite, minor-league guy in big-league camp. You pretty much want to be seen but not heard."
Now, though, the Sox will see and hear plenty of Bard. He's ready for what lies ahead.
He'll have to take a few more steps forward this season. He'll need to develop his secondary pitches; he'll need to get used to pitching more innings; he'll have to learn to handle the pressure of pitching the late innings in close games at Fenway Park. None of that will come easy — but for Bard, it's bound to come down the road.
