[Red Averages]

Quote

Bard has not thrown with the same consistency of teammate Andrew Miller, but the righthander should give the Tar Heels two first-round picks. Bard limited opponents to a .220 average in his first 72 innings this spring while winning six of his first nine decisions. According to UNC head coach Mike Fox, Bard had his best start as a collegian on April 23 by tossing a four-hit shutout versus N.C. State. That performance followed a strong effort in the Cape Cod League, when he led the circuit in strikeouts and ranked as the second-best prospect, behind only Miller. Bard was deemed one of the premier high school pitchers in the 2003 draft before falling to the Yankees in the 20th round due to signability concerns. He proceeded to earn ACC freshman of the year honors in 2004 prior to an uneven season as a sophomore. Bard's fastball resides in the low 90s and touches 94 after hitting 98 earlier in his college career. His curveball is just as effective, featuring a sharp bite and a late break. Scouts also love his workhorse mentality and durable body. He can struggle with the command of his fastball, and has worked on becoming more pitch-efficient.

-- Baseball America

College:
Junior at North Carolina

DOB:
June 25, 1985

Height / Weight:
6-4 / 202

Position:
RHP

Career Stats (courtesy Soxprospects.com)                                          
  year team level  age w l   %   era  g gs cg sh sv  ip   h r er hr bb so k/bb 
  2004   NC  Coll - 18 8 4 0.667 3.88 16 15 1  1  0 95.0 94 49 41  31 68 2.19 
  2005   NC  Coll - 19 7 5 0.583 4.22 16 16 1  1  0 89.2 73 53 42  43 77 1.79 
  2006   NC  Coll - 20 8 3 0.727 3.47 15 14 2  1  0 85.2 71 42 33  33 90 2.73

Quote

Bard, who was recommended by Red Sox scout Jeff Zona, was ranked the No. 15 overall prospect and the No. 13 pitching prospect in the draft by Baseball America. In three seasons for the University of North Carolina, the 6-foot-4, 202-pounder has gone 23-12 with a 3.86 ERA (116 ER/270.1 IP) in 47 games (all but two as a starter). His 23 wins rank seventh on the Tar Heels' all-time list. The Charlotte, N.C resident, who owns four career complete games and three shutouts, has made at least 14 starts and logged 85.2 innings or more in each of his three campaigns. The 21-year-old righthander has 235 strikeouts in 270.1 innings, an average of 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Bard earned the win in UNC's regional title victory over Winthrop on Sunday, helping the Tar Heels advance to this weekend's Super Regional matchup against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL. The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the 2006 College World Series.

A Preseason All-America selection, Bard has established career bests as a junior this season with eight wins (8-3 record), a 3.47 ERA and 90 strikeouts. With only 33 walks in 85.2 innings, he has averaged 9.5 strikeouts and 3.5 walks per nine innings. He has been at his best down the stretch, posting a 5-1 record and 1.56 ERA over his last seven appearances (six starts). A two-time ACC Pitcher of the Week in 2006, Bard has limited the opposition to a .225 batting average.

Bard last summer pitched for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League, going 3-3 with a 1.25 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 65.0 innings of work. He led the league in strikeouts and ranked third in ERA. Named to Baseball America's College Summer All-America Second Team and rated the league's No. 2 prospect, Bard started the 2005 Cape League All-Star Game for the West Division and earned MVP honors.

A graduate of Charlotte Christian High School, Bard was originally drafted in the 20th round in 2003 by the New York Yankees.

-- Red Sox Press Release on the day of the Draft

This post has been edited by Red Averages: 26 June 2006 - 07:38 PM

[Red Averages]

I'm going to be charting his pitches form the 2nd inning on in the College World Series Championship game.

I didn't chart the pitches in the first but all but two of his pitches were fastballs, none below 96 mph. He threw two sliders for balls, gave up a single (he then stole 2b) and hit a batter before getting out of the inning.


2nd inning:
1st Batter:
91 mph fastball inside - ball 1-0
94 mph fastball outside- ball 2-0
90 mph fastball - strike 2-1
92 mph fastball - foul 2-2
88 mph change up - STRIKE THREE SWINGING

2nd Batter:
98 mph fastball - foul 0-1
80 mph slider - strike looking 0-2
98 mph fastball - foul 0-2
99 mph fastball - foul 0-2
81 mph slider - Fly out to CF

3rd Batter:
98 mph fastball - blooped into RF for a single

4th Batter:
96 mph fastball - strike looking 0-1
97 mph fastball - strike swinging 0-2
97 mph fastball - groundout to SS

------------------------------------
3rd inning:
1st Batter:
94 mph fastball inside - ball 1-0
81 mph slider - strike looking 0-1
81 mph slider - ball 2-1
96 mph fastball outside - ball 3-1
97 mph fastball - strike looking 3-2
80 mph slider - foul 3-2
98 mph fastball - GROUNDOUT TO 3rd

2nd Batter:
90 mph fastball - Single to LF

3rd Batter:
98 mph fastball - Strike looking 0-1
95 mph fastball high - ball 1-1
96 mph fastball - foul 1-2
82 mph slider - ball 2-2
95 mph fastball - foul 2-2
80 mph slider - ball 3-2
96 mph fastball - STRIKE THREE SWINGING
Runner steals second (would have been out on a good throw), advances to 3rd on bad throw... 2 outs, man on 3rd

4th Batter:
97 mph fastball - strike swinging 0-1
98 mph fastball - strike swinging 0-2
97 mph fastball - Fly Out to RF

----------------------------------
4th inning:
1st Batter:
94 mph fastball - foul 0-1
96 mph fastball - foul 0-2
97 mph fastball outside - 1-2
81 mph slider - single up the middle

2nd Batter:
94 mph fastball outside - ball 1-0
95 mph fastball - ball 2-0
STOLEN BASE ---> man on 2b, 0 outs
95 mph fastball - BUNTED... Bard bobbles the ball (Error #1), then throws it away at 1st (Error #2) allowing the runner to score.
1-0 Score, man on 1st, no outs

3rd Batter:
95 mph fastball - Strike looking 0-1
95 mph fastball - BUNTED 1-3 on the out
Man on 2b, 1 out

4th Batter:
95 mph fastball - ball 1-0
80 mph slider - ball 2-0
96 mph fastball - foul 2-1
97 mph fastball - foul 2-2
82 mph slider - SINGLE UP THE MIDDLE... runner scores from 2b.
2-0 Ore. St, runner on 1st, 1 out

5th Batter:
95 mph fastball: BUNTED, 5-3 on the out.
Man on 2b, 2 outs

6th Batter:
96 mph fastball - strike looking 0-1
95 mph fastball - ball 1-1
96 mph fastball - GROUNDOUT TO 2b.

That's actually all I have time for, but this should give you a good idea of how he approached the game. I was not impressed with his slider, it seemed Oregon State was getting hits off of it. He had a number of sliders that were no where near where he wanted it. I would have liked to see more change ups, his first one he threw went for a strikeout, but I dont remember seeing another one after that. The fastball was impressive, but he NEEDS to get another pitch. Oregon State seemed to be sitting on the fastball every time.

This post has been edited by Red Averages: 26 June 2006 - 07:44 PM

[behindthepen]

6th inning
RHB
Fastball 95, driven deep down RF line foul.
Inside fb 96 5-3

LHB
outside fb 93
91 mph, 6-3

RHB
97 fb strike
96 fb popup 4

I believe that's 8 in a row.

This post has been edited by behindthepen: 26 June 2006 - 08:04 PM

[behindthepen]

through 6, 88 pitches, 75 fastballs

7th inning

RHB
96 outside strike
96 high
96 inside, little low
95 inside, swinging strike
98 outer half, liner to 1B.

RHB
98 inside foul off
98 outside half
97 high outside
97 4-3

RHB
96 inside strike
98 on the fists, 5-3

[behindthepen]

11 in a row

LHB
Strike
97 foul ground 3b
97 inside fouled off foot
97 high outside
97 inside 3U

RHB
96 inside fouled off
97 inside lined out to 2b

LHB Andrew Miller coming up, call to the pen? nope, Bard talks coach into staying.
98 inside?/high? ball (looked like a strike)
91 slider? low
96 low, but close
97 outside strike
96 inside ... Walk.

RHB
96 grounded foul
95 inside, bloop hit over 3B

thats the night.

[smastroyin]

Quote

95 mph fastball - BUNTED... Bard bobbles the ball (Error #1), then throws it away at 1st (Error #2) allowing the runner to score.
1-0 Score, man on 1st, no outs

A pitcher who throws hard but with little command of his secondary pitches and can't feild his position? Sounds like he will be in Boston before August.

Seriously, I wouldn't worry too much about him throwing mostly fastballs. In fact I would prefer he throw only fastballs until he is Red Sox property. And his fastball is also good enough to get most college hitters out.

[TomRicardo]

smastroyin, on Jun 26 2006, 10:33 PM, said:

A pitcher who throws hard but with little command of his secondary pitches and can't feild his position?  Sounds like he will be in Boston before August.

Seriously, I wouldn't worry too much about him throwing mostly fastballs.  In fact I would prefer he throw only fastballs until he is Red Sox property.  And his fastball is also good enough to get most college hitters out.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The lack of secondary pitches and killer fastball make me think that Bard may be better suited to becoming a Major League Relief Pitcher. The couple times I have seen him pitch he seems to throw mostly fastballs with that slurvesque slider. He actually looked a lot like the Professor if I was going to make a Major League comparsion.

[HighHeat]

According to the Boston Globe, the Sox will lose their rights to Bard if they don't reach an agreement today since classes at NC are about to resume.

This is not acceptable. Given the train wreck that this season has become, and the willingness of most of us to buy into the "long-term plan," it's time to take some of the money that wasn't spent at the trade deadline and sign Bard and some more of our tough signs.

No one knows if Bard will become a ML pitcher, but the system needs as many high-ceiling impact arms as it can find. By most accounts, Bard is a top 10 talent.

I will be very pissed if we lose one of our first round picks because the FO wouldn't pay.

I don't care about Bobby Abreu - this is one area where the FO can put their money where their mouth is and illustrate their commitment to the long-term success of the franchise. Get it done.

[diehard24]

HighHeat, on Aug 23 2006, 08:51 AM, said:

According to the Boston Globe, the Sox will lose their rights to Bard if they don't reach an agreement today since classes at NC are about to resume.

This is not acceptable. Given the train wreck that this season has become, and the willingness of most of us to buy into the "long-term plan," it's time to take some of the money that wasn't spent at the trade deadline and sign Bard and some more of our tough signs.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Negotiations are ongoing, according to Jason McLeod. They are not treating today as a hard deadline.

Quote

Chances are, when classes begin at the University of North Carolina today, a professor or two might be marking ``absent" for Daniel Bard, Boston's first-round draft choice in the June draft. The Sox lose negotiating rights to the righthanded pitcher as soon as he attends a class, but with negotiations ongoing, chances are that Bard, who is entering his senior year, is not yet ready to draw that line in the sand.

``We're hopeful that a deal can get done in the near future," scouting director Jason McLeod wrote in an e-mail yesterday. ``I wouldn't consider tomorrow a hard deadline."

Don't give up. Don't ever give up.

edit: spelling

This post has been edited by diehard24: 23 August 2006 - 09:00 AM

[DJnVa]

EDIT: Nevermind

This post has been edited by DJnVa: 23 August 2006 - 09:00 AM

[HighHeat]

diehard24, on Aug 23 2006, 09:59 AM, said:

Negotiations are ongoing, according to Jason McLeod. They are not treating today as a hard deadline.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is good to know. Let's hope they get it done.

[The Allented Mr Ripley]

Quote

This is not acceptable. Given the train wreck that this season has become, and the willingness of most of us to buy into the "long-term plan," it's time to take some of the money that wasn't spent at the trade deadline and sign Bard and some more of our tough signs.

Look, I hope they sign him. The FO could probably afford to throw him more money than Hochevar got. But that doesn't mean they should. Next year their first round-pick will use whatever they sign Bard for as a starting point, give or take appropriate slot status. If every team caved just because a draftee had a return to school as a bargaining chip, none of these kids would ever go back to school.

[smastroyin]

I copied amarshal2's post here. Everything below this line is his stuff - smastroyin

amarshal2, on Sep 8 2006, 08:14 AM, said:

Yeah, I guess I should have known.  I've always seen it called a slider but watching him it was somewhere in-between.

I'm with those who are skeptical about the value of Bard's contract.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out they have agreed to give him some sort of ML deal once he reaches AA or by a certain date or something.  With all that fuss he probably ended up costing himself money by waiting so long.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would seem I've found the answer to a bunch of my questions:
Link

Quote

However, he did prefer a major league deal.... “I think everyone drafted early would like a major league deal,” Bard commented. The $1.55 million signing bonus is typical mid-first round money, which was good enough for Bard to ink on the dotted line. “I really just wanted to get started and try to make it to Boston as soon as possible,” he said, expressing eagerness to get his career going.

It sounds like the signing bonus is all he's getting.

Quote

Bard will remain there a month, hoping to work on honing his cut fastball and curve, which originated from a slurve. “I threw kind of a slurve most of my time in college, but I’ve been working on splitting that into two different breaking pitches,” Bard said. “[The two pitches are] a harder cut-fastball that I’m trying to throw in the 87-88 [mile per hour] range, as well as a curveball that would probably be in the high 70’s.”
He ranks these two pitches as being his third and fourth best pitches. He also throws a four-seam fastball that he usually throws to the left-side of the plate, but he also likes to go up in the strikezone with it because it’s a couple of miles per hour faster than the two-seamer, which hitters are prone to swinging at (ask Jason Varitek!).

He also utilizes a two-seam fastball that he throws to the right side of the plate because it moves more. The two-seam fastball has more action than the four-seam fastball (thrown in the high 90s) that will break away from a left-handed batter, causing them to hit the ball with the tip of the bat, while busting in on right-handed batters, jamming them.

That’s not the only pitch he throws, as his reportoire is at five pitches. He uses a circle-changeup, one that “has some downward movement when I’m throwing it well.”

So there's that too.

[Seabass177]

Gammons has a blurb about Bard in his latest column.

Quote

• One of the shining lights in their [Red Sox] regular Instructional League has been first-round pick Daniel Bard, from North Carolina, who has regularly hit 99-100 mph in two outings.

Sounds promising.

[Steve Dillard]

Seabass177, on Oct 9 2006, 01:35 PM, said:

Gammons has a blurb about Bard in his latest column.
Sounds promising.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's consistent with the reviews of Riverboat Smith on soxprospects.com, who said Bard is ready for AA ball.

Of course, Gammons gushed about Mike Rozier's advanced stuff in the 2004 Instructional League, and we see how well that played out.

Quote

Scouting director David Chadd has worked hard with the Epstein organization to reconstruct what had become a shallow farm system. The initial Instructional League assignment for 6-foot-5, 18-year-old lefty Mike Rozier -- to whom they gave $1.55 million -- was beyond their imagination. They are loaded with young pitchers out of Venezuela and the Dominican, led by Anabel Sanchez and Jimmy James. With Ramirez, Pedroia, Luis Soto and Christian Lara, they have four legitimate middle-infield prospects.

Bottom line is the Instructional League probably isn't too predictive.

Of course, it's good to have the Gammons/Sox prospect hype machine back in order.

This post has been edited by Steve Dillard: 09 October 2006 - 01:30 PM

[Crazy Puppy]

Interview with Bard by our own David Laurila, posted at BA.

Quote

BA: Have the Red Sox indicated whether they project you as a starter or as a reliever, and do you feel you're better suited for either role?

DB: It's come up a bit, and based on those conversations I'll be a starter to begin my career. I think there are certain things that point to each being a good role for me. I have three or four pitches, and can hold my velocity deep into games, so that points to being a starter. On the other hand, I know I could be effective attacking hitters with my best two pitches for one inning. I like starting, but could see myself succeeding either way.

Quote

BA: How would you describe your fastball, including velocity?

DB: Here in Fort Myers, I've been between 96 and 98 (mph). They said I hit 100 in my last outing, which was kind of nice to hear. I throw a two-seamer, too, which is about two or three miles an hour slower than my four-seamer. It has pretty good sink to it most of the time.

[DieHard3]

Crazy Puppy, on Oct 12 2006, 08:19 PM, said:

I have three or four pitches, and can hold my velocity deep into games, so that points to being a starter...Here in Fort Myers, I've been between 96 and 98 (mph). They said I hit 100 in my last outing,
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm in love with him -- in a purely platonic, non-gay way -- already.

[redinchicago]

DieHard3, on Oct 12 2006, 10:21 PM, said:

I'm in love with him -- in a purely platonic, non-gay way -- already.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you've seen him pitch, there is a LOT of work needed. Sure, he throws hard. He doesn't get a lot of swing and misses. Not sure he has 3 or 4 pitches. His fastball that tails into right-handers seems like the only decent one, currently.

[Caspir]

redinchicago, on Oct 13 2006, 08:31 AM, said:

If you've seen him pitch, there is a LOT of work needed.  Sure, he throws hard.  He doesn't get a lot of swing and misses.  Not sure he has 3 or 4 pitches.  His fastball that tails into right-handers seems like the only decent one, currently.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BA: Assuming that each is a win, would you rather throw a two-hit shutout with four K's, or allow two runs on six hits with 16 K's?

DB: Definitely the first one. People see me throw and expect me to put up big strikeout numbers all the time, and while I'll take a strikeout whenever I can, my style is to pitch more to contact and try to induce ground balls early in the count. My best outings in college usually had 15-to-18 ground ball outs, and single-digit strikeouts, so that's when I feel I'm at my best. I'm not out there trying to miss bats with everything.

---

Outside of the CWS I haven't seen him pitch, but it seems like a plausible explanaion for the lower K numbers. (Relative to other power pitchers)

[bowiac]

How much resemblance does he have with Justin Verlander?

I'm just throwing it out there because of the 98-100mph stuff, and the relative lack of strikeouts. Is there a comp? Or is the reason that Verlander doesn't get strikeouts different than the reason Bard doesn't?