Colorado Rockies right-hander Daniel Bard is not expected to start the season with the team due to a left knee injury that will require surgery, The Denver Post reported Tuesday.
Bard, 38, came away with knee discomfort injury during a throwing session, with the injury revealed to be a torn meniscus. He was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday, with the timetable for recovery expected to be five to seven weeks, he told the newspaper.
Bard, who was expected to compete for the Rockies' closer role, will join the team at spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz., later but will not take part in Cactus League play.
"I tweaked my knee while I was throwing about 10 days ago and it was causing some problems," Bard said in a phone interview with The Post. "I was playing normal catch stuff and I moved a little awkwardly and I felt something pop."
Bard, who missed time last season because of anxiety and forearm tightness, was 4-2 with a 4.56 ERA and one save in 50 appearances.
Bard pitched from 2009-12 and in two games in 2013 for the Boston Red Sox, going 10-19 with a 3.67 ERA in 211 appearances (10 starts) with five saves. He spent the next five seasons trying to regain his form, then accepted a mentor role with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018.
He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in 2020 and ended up pitching in 23 major league games that season. Over the past four seasons in Colorado, Bard is 21-16 with a 3.83 ERA in 197 appearances with 61 saves.
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