DENVER -- Right-handed relief pitcher Daniel Bard began 2021 as the Rockies¡¯ closer. After a couple rough patches, however, he found himself pitching in middle relief.
Either place, he decided, is a good one.
The National League Comeback Player of the Year Award that Bard received in 2020 -- the culmination of a long road back to the Majors after control problems ended his time with the Red Sox in 2013 -- served as perspective. And, his job has value, as evidenced by the one-year agreement worth, according to a source, $4.4 million he reached Tuesday to avoid salary arbitration in his third and final year of eligibility.
¡°If you had told me two years ago I would be doing that [facing right-handed hitters in middle innings], I¡¯d take it, and I still will,¡± Bard said as the ¡¯21 season concluded. ¡°That¡¯s what I look back to, instead of saying, ¡®I¡¯m not closing right now.¡¯¡±?
Bard, 36, reached the agreement on the deadline day for clubs to tender contract offers for the 2022 season. Righty setup man Tyler Kinley, 30, also avoided arbitration with a one-year, $1.025 million deal.
The club tendered contract offers to all its other arbitration-eligible players -- lefty starting pitcher Kyle Freeland, righty starter Peter Lambert, righty relievers Carlos Estévez and Robert Stephenson, third baseman Ryan McMahon, outfielder Raimel Tapia and infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson.
Bard¡¯s age, interesting backstory -- which included times with the D-backs as a mental skills coach when his playing career was considered over -- and willingness to relate to the younger pitchers catapulted him into a leadership role. He kept leading, even after being replaced by Est¨¦vez in the ninth inning. And, depending on the development of other returning relievers and whether the Rockies are successful in landing an experienced late-innings reliever, Bard might have found his most effective role.
Bard held right-handed batters to a .208 batting average and .579 OPS in 2021. The numbers against lefty batters were, respectively, .319 and 1.006. In a perfect world, Bard is best used after the starter and against right-handers at the heart of an opponent¡¯s order. Bard possesses a high-velocity fastball and a swing-and-miss slider. But while he struck out 80 in 65 2/3 innings pitched in ¡¯21, he walked 36. Bard went 20-for-28 on save chances.?
¡°I got lots of opportunities,¡± Bard said. ¡°Buddy [Black, the manager] stuck with me through a rough patch early in the year, which I appreciated. I pitched well after that. I still don¡¯t think I threw the ball bad to lose the job. I had some horrible results, which I don¡¯t deny at all. It was like blooper, blooper, wall-scraper home run, which happened three out of four times. But I wouldn¡¯t have run me out there to close the game again.?
¡°The biggest thing after the role swap is we relievers were always there for each other. It¡¯s a tight-knit group. I love seeing Est¨¦vez get those opportunities to close those games, and Kinley and Stephenson are getting opportunities late in games. Those guys are peaking.¡±
Bard said some of the trials of 2021 allowed him to become more creative with his slider, a pitch that plays off a fastball capable of eclipsing 100 mph. The atmospheric conditions at Coors Field, which change during the course of the season depending on dryness of the air, and going from altitude at home to sea level away, forced him to be creative.?
¡°It¡¯s almost like two or three pitches -- that¡¯s the way I feel,¡± Bard said. ¡°I want to have room for manipulation. I can have the same grip but I have a mid-80s slider, then a 90-92 one. And it can make hitters look lost when I¡¯m able to drop those both for strikes. If I can show them one, they think they¡¯ve seen my slider, then I throw a different one and they get a terrible swing. I¡¯ve got to keep them guessing.¡±
Minor League agreements
The Rockies have reached agreement on a Minor League deal with former Phillies right-hander JD Hammer, who made 40 Major League relief appearances over two seasons (2019 and 2021).
Colorado also retained two Minor League free agents from its system: catcher Max George and left-handed starting pitcher Breiling Eusebio.