The Daniel Bard story begins in 2003, as the New York Yankees drafted the 6’4″ power arm out of high school in the 20th round (604th overall). Bard declined the Yankee offer and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Thankfully).
At UNC Daniel enjoyed a good amount of success; in his three years at the college he posted a 23-12 record with a 3.86 ERA and teamed up with fellow standout pitcher Andrew Miller (now of the Florida Marlins) to allow the Tarheels to roll past a lot of the ACC, and the duo garnered a slew of All-American nominations.
After his junior year, Daniel was drafted in the first round (28th overall) by the Boston Red Sox, and took every day allotted in the signing window to do so, even enrolling for classes the following semester as a back up plan. Finally the Sox reeled him in and sent him out to single-A affiliate Greenville Drive as a starting pitcher.
As a starter however, he had struggled through 2007 with a 3-7 record, until a trip to Honolulu where he worked on mechanics, lowered his arm angle and came about as a dominant relief pitcher. Bard’s fastball is thrown in the 95-98 mph range but has been known to hit 101 on the gun…yes 101 mph…he also features two-seam fastball that sits in the low 90’s and has some break to it. His breaking pitches however need some more work, those include a cut-fastball, a slider and a circle-change.
Bard’s recovery from his early problems turned into a 1.99 ERA in 49.2 IP in AA-Portland in the 2008 season, while he still needs to work on his control, (26 walks in those 49.2 IP) he was given the 2008 Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year award, as well as Comeback Player of the Year. All the while boosting his stock as the #4 prospect in the Red Sox organization according to soxprospects.com.
As far as long term, as Bard has shown he can recover from rough spots and be a consistent/dominant reliever, I could easily project him as a long time set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon, but with the crowded pen as it is, Bard may end up being traded, or forcing the Red Sox to make a trade to accommodate a spot for him. As far as when we could see Mr. Bard, any injury to a starter that pushes Masterson to the rotation may bring up Daniel to take his spot, or a fine September call up. Either way I think we will be seeing a lot of Daniel Bard in the years to come.
Fire Brand interviewed Daniel Bard shortly after he was drafted.