Rockies Reliever Set to Miss Rest of 2024 Season

Daniel Bard to Miss 2024 Season

Bard is a former first-round pick out of UNC by the Boston Red Sox in 2006. He debuted with them in 2009 before breaking out the following season with a 1.93 ERA in 74 2/3 innings. He lasted with the Sox until 2013 when he was released for control issues and possible yips. Bard bounced around farm systems for the next couple of years before retiring in 2017.

In the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season, at age 35, he came out of retirement and signed on with the Rockies. Bard broke camp and made the team as the closer. He was back to form from his early days with the Red Sox, pumping upper 90s fastballs with a wipeout slider and a 10 K/9. Since then he hadn’t looked back. 2022 was a career season for Bard that was even better than his 2010 breakout with the Red Sox. In 60 1/3 innings he pitched to a 1.79 ERA and 260 ERA+ while converting 34 saves. At that same 2022 trade deadline, he signed a two-year, $19 million extension to stay in Denver through his age-39 season.

Hampered by Injuries

Going into the 2023 season, Bard had lost his closer role to sidearmer Justin Lawrence. He was expected to be their 8th-inning setup man. Before spring training started, Bard tore his left meniscus and had surgery. He missed the entirety of spring rehabbing his knee. In 2023, Bard was limited to only 50 appearances as he injured his right flexor. He was placed on the IL for it last season, and it is the same one that he reinjured this year.

We’ll see how Bard recovers from this injury. He is a free agent after the season and will be 40 going into 2025. The hope for Bard is that he will be able to fully recover and still have his velocity there. If that is the case, he should be able to sign on somewhere and help bolster a team’s pen.