Friday, August 26, 2016

Daniel Bard's Nightmare Continues In Cardinals System

(AP Photo)
The very sad story of Daniel Bard unfortunately continues. Now in the St. Louis Cardinals minor-league system, the fire-balling righty is still unable to find the success he enjoyed in his set-up role for Jonathan Papelbon while a member of the Red Sox. His abortive conversion to starting pitcher seems to have put a hex on his relief performances ever since. Wildness has been the biggest problem for Bard, who has allowed six earned runs on two hits, six walks, and three hit batsmen in a total of one inning of work since August 12th. This harkens back to his horrific 2014 performance in the Rangers minor-league chain, when he actually complied a 175.50 ERA over just two-thirds of an inning. He gave up no hits in that Ranger stint—although he walked nine batters and hit seven. The Cubbies, Rangers, Pirates and Cardinals have all been unable to re-capture Bard's effectiveness. Hopefully, some team, someday, will.