But, as a teammate, he has the chance to turn this transition into a promotion and to show his teammates that despite his youth and previous role, he has the ability to step up and be a leader.
After placing Bard in a starter's role since Day 1, the Sox upperlings asked him to move to the bullpen temporarily and it was obvious the tall righty didn't agree with the move. But he did move and he did his job on Monday night — tossing 2/3 innings of hitless relief.
The outing was pretty standard for Bard — nothing glitzy. The 11-pitch act probably won't be nominated for a breakthrough performance of the year.
Ahh, the life of a reliever.
How does the pessimist view his young career in The Hub? Unless he screws up, he's been nothing more than boxscore filler. His career wins and saves combined couldn't fill a 12 pack. If you were to name his best career outing thus far, what would it be? His three-strikeout-2 1/3 inning-outing in May of 2009? Or last year, when he went two full frames and fanned four Angels?
Bard enters this fourth year with a pretty dull resume, and it probably isn't easy looking around at his draft class to see what others have done since singing the dotted line in 2006. Brandon Morrow, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, Ian Kennedy and Max Scherzer were all fellow first rounders in Bard's draft class and each one has been given a permanent role in a rotation.
Now, it's obvious Bard is done being a setup man — an afterthought — on this Sox staff. He's ready and eager to begin a long, successful career as a major league starter and Red Sox Nation should appreciate this more than the frosty tap at their neighborhood watering hole. After all, he's a pitcher and young pitchers are built to want the ball in big situations — as in big starts and big finishes — not so much what happens in between.
But, to put things simply: [stuff] happens.
And what happens when [stuff] happens? Things change. And success through adversity is what turns athletes to legends in Boston. It turns good teams into champions. It's adversity, not the media or a curse, that makes or breaks any athlete who has the honor to wear a Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots or Celtics jersey.
As William Arthur Ward once penned: "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjust the sails."
Bard can turn this situation, albeit a brief one, into a nice tailwind that can stick with him throughout his career and within this locker room throughout the summer.
By accepting this bullpen role, Bard can take it two ways: a demotion or promotion. I see it as the latter. Bard's versatility should be rewarded — which it is. His dependability should be used to the fullest — which it is. This promotion should prove to Bard that he is one of the few roster players on this team that can reliably bounce from starter to reliever and compete at the same level regardless of what inning he tosses his first pitch.
Bard can also send a message to his locker room — an enclosed structure being targeted from all angles from the media and upset hearts of the Nation. If Bard shows his teammates that he's willing to trade his dugout seat for a bullpen seat, he's putting the ball in the court of every single other member of that team. "I did this for the better of my team, what will you do for the team?" Being a key member of the pen for the last three years, Bard can be a vocal leader in this new-look bullpen and take charge of a group that's in disarray.
"I’m not reading too much into it right now," he said. "I know I can start. I know my value to this team in throwing 150-200 innings a year rather than 65-70 out of the pen."
Bard's value isn't measured in innings, its measured in whatever he can do to put a win on the board every time the Sox take the field, whether it's as a starter, reliever or water boy. There are pitchers in the minor league system that are of better help as starters, including Aaron Cook. Meaning Bard would have to slide back to the bullpen to better balance the team if and when Cook gets the call.
"[My future is] not for me to decide. I feel I’ve done my job as a starter. They’re trying to address a need and whether or not I can completely turn everything around down there is to be determined."
This move may be brief, but it can help shape the persona of both Bard and of this struggling 2012 team. This may be a non-issue in just a few days, but in this small window of opportunity lurks a chance at sparking what could be looked at as "the moment" — as in that moment that some non-glitzy setup man turned the entire season around. Ahh, the life of the reliever.
