Daniel Bard’s 2024 season has ended due to injuries, starting with tearing the meniscus in his left knee while simply just playing catch, he would undergo surgery, that injury was only supposed to keep him out for 5-7 weeks but then he had surgery on the flexor tendon in his right elbow which ultimately ended his season. He was entering 2024 recovering from another injury before sustaining this most recent one. Last season, he made three trips to the injured list with the last two trips being due to right forearm issues. It is unclear if Bard will return to a big league mound after this most recent injury but one thing is for sure his legacy and what he has gone through is secure.
The Story of Daniel Bard
Bard was drafted originally by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 2003 MLB Draft, out of Charlotte Christian High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. He chose to not sign with the Yankees and instead attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bard pitched for the Tar Heels for three seasons going 23-12 with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.60 WHIP, and 235 strikeouts in 270.1 innings pitched. The Boston Red Sox would draft him with the 28th overall selection in the 2006 MLB Draft. He started the 2007 season ranked as the 81st overall prospect by Baseball America and he would go on to pitch for the Red Sox High-A affiliate in Lancaster and their Single-A affiliate in Greenville. He pitched in the Red Sox system until 2009 when he got his big league call up. He made his debut on May 13, 2009, against the Los Angeles Angels going two innings, he didn’t allow a run on one hit; he walked one and struck out one. He ended that season making 49 appearances going 2-2 with a 3.65 ERA, a 3.38 FIP, a 1.27 WHIP, and 63 strikeouts in 49.1 innings. In 2010 he would appear in 73 games going 1-2 with a 3.37 FIP, a 1.00 WHIP, and 76 strikeouts in 74.2 innings. He would also spend 2011 in the bullpen for the Red Sox making 70 appearances going 2-9 with a 3.33 ERA, a 2.96 FIP, a 0.95 WHIP, and 74 strikeouts in 73 innings. In 2012 the Red Sox decided to make him a starter he made 17 appearances with ten of those coming as starts, he went 5-6 with a 6.22 ERA, a 6.36 FIP, a 1.73 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. In 2013 he sustained an abdominal injury which limited him to 16.1 innings between the Red Sox and Triple-A Pawtucket, and he walked 27 batters in that span. In the Winter he tried to figure his stuff out pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League, but he would end up walking nine batters and hitting three in just 0.1 innings. He would pitch in 2014 with the Texas Rangers Single-A affiliate and he walked nine and hit seven batters in 0.2 innings. He tried to make some comeback attempts pitching with the St. Louis Cardinals High-A affiliate in 2016 and their Double-A affiliate in 2017 as well as with the New York Mets rookie league team in 2017 but that didn’t go well either and he chose to retire, as he battled with anxiety.
Bard would go on to become a mental skills coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018, he would work with players about meditation, the mind-body connection as well as breathing techniques. He would work on throwing with players on the field as a minor league instructor in 2019. As he was working with players, he started to get the idea of a comeback as players noticed that Bard still had it. In 2020 he began throwing to major league players and would later have a tryout for pro scouts which led to him signing with the Colorado Rockies. The unfortunate news for Bard was that COVID hit and shut everything down, thinking that would be it. Still, Major League Baseball agreed to a 60-game season, and on July 25, 2020, after three seasons off and seven seasons removed from his last appearance Bard was back on a big league mound going 1.1 innings, he didn’t allow a run on two hits; he didn’t issue a walk and struck out one. Bard would end the 2020 season in 23 games going 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA, a 3.64 FIP, a 1.29 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. In 2021 he made 67 appearances going 7-8 with a 5.21 ERA, a 4.28 FIP, a 1.59 WHIP, and 80 strikeouts in 65.2 innings; he had 20 saves. In 2022 he had his best season in which he finished 16th in MVP voting as he went 6-4 in 57 appearances with a 1.79 ERA, a 2.86 FIP, a 0.99 WHIP, and 69 strikeouts in 60.1 innings; he also had a career-high 34 saves. Last season his control problems returned as he would appear in 50 games for the Rockies going 4-2 with a 4.56 ERA, a 6.13 FIP, a 1.70 WHIP, 47 strikeouts, and he would walk 49 batters in 49.1 innings.
Bard will turn 39 on June 25th, and he really may not ever step foot on a mound again but he’s also not a person or a player you can rule anything out as we’ve seen he can come back at any time and his story is truly an inspiration for anyone, and it deserves to be heard and known by not just baseball fans but everyone.
