The 24-year-old took Boston by storm last season, flashing a high-90s heater and causing Red Sox fans to view life post-Jonathan Papelbon with confidence.
Although a 3.65 ERA over 49 1/3 innings along with a filthy 63 whiffs is something any pitcher would love to have, Bard isn't resting on his laurels when it comes to improving his game, electing to work on adding a third above-average pitch to his arsenal.
The right-hander primarily throws his fastball, doing so at a 73 percent clip in 2009. He backed up his heater with an inconsistent slider that he showcased just over a quarter of the time. His changeup was strictly a "show-me" pitch, only tossing it 1.6 percent of the time for a total number of 14 changeups thrown in 2009.
Developing a changeup isn't exactly a necessity for a relief pitcher with a strong fastball and solid secondary offering — which Bard has — but it doesn't hurt, either. Having several pitches at one's disposal is crucial, something Papelbon found out rather rudely during Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels this past season.
Bard's changeup had an average velocity of 88.4 mph — similar to ace Josh Beckett's change (average of 88.8 mph in 2009) — and has some sink to it, as Benjamin references. However, Bard's changeup drops more than Beckett's, so the potential is there for it to act as a slow sinker, which would improve Bard's groundball numbers. With the Red Sox' new vaunted infield defense behind the pitcher, any ball on the ground is likely to be converted into an out.
