Agree - I wouldn't give the ball to him in a tight game. But if it's a 3 run game in the 7th and Uehara threw the day before, I wouldn't have any qualms giving the ball to Bard for the 7th, then Taz and Bailey in the 8th and 9th.
If Bard can just be effective, not dominant, just an effective reliever, that helps out a ton. With Hanrahan, Breslow, and Morales all on the shelf right now, our bullpen got really thin really fast. Taz, Uehara, and Bailey have been used a lot (which is nice because that means we're generally winning a lot of games, but you cannot wear them down). Having Bard as an extra effective arm in there could be extremely helpful.