Nobody ever wants to end up like Steve Blass, where all of a sudden, you can’t throw the ball like you used to.
In 2012 there were many whispers that Daniel Bard had morphed into Blass.
This isn’t even the first time in his career that something like this happened to him. In 2008 when he was sent up to AA, I saw him pitch his first game, which was played in New Britain, CT. I called him over as he was warming up, and I said “What happened to you last year, 78 walks in 75 innings?”
He replied, “It was all mechanics, and it is all good now.”
I said “Just throw the ball like you did at NC and do it for one inning. If you just pitch the eighth inning, and you will be in Boston by August.”
That night he came in relief for Portland and struck out the side in the eighth inning. He never made it to Boston that year, even though he never gave up an earned run after July, 17, 2008. That summer he hit 100 on the radar gun in Portland. Just think if he played for Boston that year, the Sox might...
Original Story:
|
January 22, 2013
