Daniel Bard Interview

[rc1126]

Apologies to everyone for referring to a link in my first post; but, it was an interview of Daniel Bard in what I'm guessing is a relatively obscure blog that prompted me to finally register after reading and enjoying the board for some time. In any case, yeszir has been consulted and has suggested that I include all of the blog's url except for the beginning portion.

 

woody20.blogspot.com/

 

Paste the above address in after the usual http characters, and you should find it. Hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did..

[example1]

THis has been up here for 3 hours and nobody has commented, so I suppose I will.

 

This is actually a great interview... much more in depth than a lot of the s*** out there. Its like Bard would love to talk to someone about pitching, and here's the guy asking the right questions.

 

Nice contribution for a first post.

 

From the article...

 

I'm big on visualization, before outings, or even between pitches during a game. I try to visualize the pitch I'm about to throw, whether it's a fastball, slider, change-up, whatever, and I see the hitter taking a poor swing and breaking his bat or making weak contact. It will instantly increase your confidence in that pitch when you picture it blowing up that hitter's bat in your mind. Sounds crazy, but it works for me.

 

That's pretty great. If I could throw 100 I would be visualizing exploding bats too.

[BSN07]

Agreed. Nice read. Seems to have good head on his shoulders. Nice to know considering I believe he is the Closer in waiting

[Dojji]

Considering that a couple years ago we thought this guy was gonna be a head case, it's a good read.

[SoxSport]

The kid will be the closer sooner than you think if Pap doesn't recover his splitter.

[Dojji]

Not as long as Pap's still on the roster. Bard is extremely talented, but he's not as good as even no-splitter Paps.

[The_Destroyah]

Not as long as Pap's still on the roster. Bard is extremely talented' date=' but he's not as good as even no-splitter Paps.[/quote']

 

Not yet atleast, I think he will be every bit as good as Paps has been plus some, but he is young, give him a bit longer, I think he has serious potential

[Dojji]

I don't think you realize just how fortunate we are to have Papelbon. There's a lot of room for Bard to be very, very, very talented, and a brilliantly effective MLB closer, without sniffing Papelbon's level of talent or performance -- he's that rare a find.

 

How many relievers in this league do you think would talk to the media about their disappointing season if they'd put up an ERA in the 2.8-3.1 range? That's optimistic for Bard, although it's fair to expect him to get there, and it's about the level you need to operate in to really be a decent closer. For Papelbon, though, if he put up those numbers we'd be panicking about his underperformance.

[The_Destroyah]

I don't think you realize just how fortunate we are to have Papelbon. There's a lot of room for Bard to be very, very, very talented, and a brilliantly effective MLB closer, without sniffing Papelbon's level of talent or performance -- he's that rare a find.

 

How many relievers in this league do you think would talk to the media about their disappointing season if they'd put up an ERA in the 2.8-3.1 range? That's optimistic for Bard, although it's fair to expect him to get there, and it's about the level you need to operate in to really be a decent closer. For Papelbon, though, if he put up those numbers we'd be panicking about his underperformance.

 

Oh I agree, that Paps is a rare find and its not easy to replace him, I just legitimately believe that Bard has all the pieces to be more effective than paps, that doesn't mean he will but I think he can and I think there is a good chance he will.

[Dojji]

Refer to previous post.

 

What you mean is that he has the ability to be a dominant, very effective closer type. That's about all we can legitimately ask of him, expecting more than that is probably unreasonable.

 

The thing is that Papelbon is several orders of magnitude north of "dominant." He and Mariano Rivera share a level of effectiveness no one else touches very often, let alone does so consistently. He not only has the talent, he has the polish and the finish that happens maybe a couple times in a generation if that generation is very fortunate. Holding any youngster to the standard of a guy like Papelbon is so exuberant even I know to steer clear.

[The_Destroyah]

Refer to previous post.

 

What you mean is that he has the ability to be a dominant, very effective closer type. That's about all we can legitimately ask of him, expecting more than that is probably unreasonable.

 

The thing is that Papelbon is several orders of magnitude north of "dominant." He and Mariano Rivera share a level of effectiveness no one else touches very often, let alone does so consistently. He not only has the talent, he has the polish and the finish that happens maybe a couple times in a generation if that generation is very fortunate. Holding any youngster to the standard of a guy like Papelbon is so exuberant even I know to steer clear.

 

true, I just happen to feel that Bard has potential to perhaps surpass Paps, as previously stated, that doesn't mean his talent will pan out, it doesn't even mean there is a big probabilty it will pan out, but their is a reason that in every major trade discussion with the Sox he is mentioned, he has more pitches than Pap and every one of them is effective. I do not think Bard will surpass Paps in the next 2 years but I do think that Paps is showing signs of a downward trend, while he is and will be one of the 3 best closers in the game for the next several years Im sure, I happen to think he's becoming less dominant, and I have a feeling he will not be an elite closer in 4-5 years if this trend continues this year, time will tell, but I expect Bard to eventually be a dominating closer, maybe not to paps or mo's level, but dominant none the less whether in Boston or elsewhere is yet to be seen.

[SoxSport]

The Angels used Pap for batting practice that last playoff game because he threw nothing but straight fastballs. He will have to find his splitter again to regain his dominance.

[TheMino007]

Papelbon was far from dominate or elite last season

[Dipre]

Papelbon was far from dominate or elite last season

 

Papelbon was a top five closer last year, to say he wasn't elite is a lie. He simply didn't pitch up to the sky-high standard he's set for himself.

[Dojji]

.. and actually, even that's up to interpretation, since his ERA. K/9 and H/9 were all EXACTLY career average. It pretty much comes down to how concerned you are over walks for a relief pitcher.

 

Frankly, the guy was due for a little slippage. NO ONE goes through a season walking less than 10 batters a year consistently.

[TheMino007]

WHIP was insanely high for him, too many walks, not enough clean 1-2-3 innings. He didn't just slip a little, he slipped a lot last year from previous years. He was a heart attack closer last year, how is that good? Watch the guy from last year, he wasn't one of the elite. That can easily be fixed if he throws his splitter more and stops gunning fastball after fastball right down the middle of the plate.

[Dojji]

WHIP was insanely high for him' date='[/quote']

 

A 1.1 WHIP isn't "insanely" high for anyone. It's a bit out of character for Pap to put up a normal WHIP instead of a Godly one, but don't oversell the case, Mino. Anyone else in the league puts up a 1.1 WHIP the team involved is ecstatic.

 

Meanwhile, Bard's WHIP sits at a fairly respectable 1.28.

[Dipre]

WHIP was insanely high for him' date=' too many walks, not enough clean 1-2-3 innings. He didn't just slip a little, he slipped a lot last year from previous years. He was a heart attack closer last year, how is that good? Watch the guy from last year, he wasn't one of the elite. That can easily be fixed if he throws his splitter more and stops gunning fastball after fastball right down the middle of the plate.[/quote']

 

You're stretching.

 

There were a lot of heart attack innings, but what matters is the result, and Papelbon's results were elite:

 

1.85 ERA, 10.9 K/9, 3.17 SO/BB, 7.1 H/9, 1.147 WHIP.

 

About WHIP, what do you consider an "insanely high" WHIP?

 

Among AL closers, only Rivera,Bailey, Nathan and Soria had a better WHIP, and he was top 5 in the AL in WHIP, K's, LOB%, Saves, and save conversion percentage.

 

He wasn't as good as other years, but he was still elite. Please stop undermining the actual statistical value of Papelbon with subjective opinion.

[Dipre]

A 1.1 WHIP isn't "insanely" high for anyone. It's a bit out of character for Pap to put up a normal WHIP instead of a Godly one, but don't oversell the case, Mino. Anyone else in the league puts up a 1.1 WHIP the team involved is ecstatic.

 

Meanwhile, Bard's WHIP sits at a fairly respectable 1.28.

 

 

You, sir, are absolutely right.

[Dojji]

*issue resolved*

[Dipre]

Yeah' date=' I fixed that in edit. Take it as a kindness if you followed suit.[/quote']

 

Done.

[Dojji]

What exactly is it about having a top-quality reliever who is not the closer, I wonder, that makes fans immediately clamor to get rid of the closer? No matter how talented that closer is?

 

Don't people know that there are 7 spots in the bullpen and the more of them are filled with closer caliber relievers the better?

[The_Destroyah]

You're stretching.

 

There were a lot of heart attack innings, but what matters is the result, and Papelbon's results were elite:

 

1.85 ERA, 10.9 K/9, 3.17 SO/BB, 7.1 H/9, 1.147 WHIP.

 

About WHIP, what do you consider an "insanely high" WHIP?

 

Among AL closers, only Rivera,Bailey, Nathan and Soria had a better WHIP, and he was top 5 in the AL in WHIP, K's, LOB%, Saves, and save conversion percentage.

 

He wasn't as good as other years, but he was still elite. Please stop undermining the actual statistical value of Papelbon with subjective opinion.

 

BUT I WACH DA GAMEZZZZZ!!!1211!!!@!#3@!!!

[jacksonianmarch]

People are comparing Papelbon to Papelbon and not to the rest of the league. He was a top notch closer last yr, but he certainly wasnt as good as he had been in the past. Only after he walks will the sox feel the loss. Thinking that a guy like Bard can replace what Paps has meant to this team is foolish right now, but that seems to be the direction this is headed.

[Dojji]

Why choose Paps or Bard when you can have Paps AND Bard?

 

Someone answer plz.

[TheMino007]

I didn't say the Sox should get rid of Paps, Bard isn't ready to close yet this year but will hopefully get some save opps. on days that Papelbon needs rest. What I said was that Papelbon wasn't in my opinon an elite closer last year and that if he make some simple changes in pitch selection and location we can write off last year as a fluke and not a trend. He can easily reduce his walk totals and have more clean innings this year.

[Dipre]

I didn't say the Sox should get rid of Paps' date=' Bard isn't ready to close yet this year but will hopefully get some save opps. on days that Papelbon needs rest. What I said was that Papelbon wasn't in my opinon an elite closer last year and that if he make some simple changes in pitch selection and location we can write off last year as a fluke and not a trend. He can easily reduce his walk totals and have more clean innings this year.[/quote']

 

If you can name five decidedly better closers than Papelbon and back it up with stats, i'll concede his not being elite.

[TheMino007]

What did u say was elite? Top 5? I'll concede that he is top 5, but I'd but Nathan, Bronxton, Mo ahead of him

[Dipre]

What did u say was elite? Top 5? I'll concede that he is top 5' date=' but I'd but Nathan, Bronxton, Mo ahead of him[/quote']

 

Papelbon is top 3.

 

Broxton is not ahead of him.

 

He had a better WHIP, but nearly a full run higher ERA, he had less saves, more blown saves, and he plays in the NL West.

 

It's easier to make a case for The Mexicutioner.