The 2022 campaign continued the comeback venture for former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Daniel Bard.
A decade removed from his last appearance in a Red Sox uniform, Bard has rejuvenated his baseball career in recent years with the Colorado Rockies. Signing with the National League squad in 2020 after his seven-year hiatus from the big league level, Bard delivered the best campaign of his career last season at age 37.
Bard made 57 appearances out of the bullpen for Colorado, pitching to a career-best 1.79 ERA and striking out 69 batters in 60 1/3 innings. His 28.2 strikeout percentage in 2022 was Bard’s highest since his rookie season 14 years ago with the Red Sox in 2009.
Now, the 2020 Comeback Player of the Year is set to embark on a fourth campaign in his reinventing tenure with the Rockies.
“It was a good year, not gonna lie,” Bard said on MLB Network. “It was fun. It was one of those things where I came off a rough year the year before and went into that offseason trying to make some changes. And I think that’s what everybody does after kind of a down year.”
A down year is a more than suitable description of Bard’s second season with the Rockies. The right-hander went 7-8 over the course of 67 appearances, pitching to a 5.21 ERA. That marked the third-highest ERA of Bard’s career.
That of course didn’t faze Bard one bit. After assembling an impressive 2022, Bard remains optimistic in hopes of maintaining that trend heading into 2023 with the Rockies.
“I feel good,” Bard said. “I feel the same going in as I did last year health-wise. And trying to just stay young as much as I can and keep up with my teammates. It’s one of those things. I’m gonna take those changes I made and try to just keep working with them, keep tweaking things and try to stay one step ahead of those hitters.”
