SoxFanForsyth

I do agree with the Melancon point as well - He may be the very reason that Bard isn't a starter. I'll say this - if Aceves can become a solid starter for us (i.e. ERA in the 3.8-3.9 range), then the bullpen is much stronger with Melancon - Bard - Bailey as opposed to Aceves - Melancon - Bailey. It's a very fair point that Melancon may have hosed Bard, but Bard's results or talents as a SP have nothing to do with it. Either way - the back end of the rotation this year is much, much better than it was last year, and I saw Cafardo said the Sox are expecting DiceK back in late May. I'm actually excited and curious to see if Valentine has an effect on DiceK.

Wow. Overreact much? Bard had ****one***** bad outing this spring, and it was in a long relief role. 5 innings, 3 BB, setting final 8 down in order, 3 ER? That's a bad outing now? Take out his long relief, he's walked 5 in 10 IP and allowed 3 ER. Lester has walked 7 in 11 IP and allowed 7 ER. We must have ruined him too because there was back to back games back in 2002 when he was in high school where he walked 8 batters. Man. He's gone off and reverted. We've ruined him. Who knows how long it'll take to get back to normal. Come on man. You're being absolutely ridiculous. He's thrown 10 innings as a starter, and you're claiming he's turned into a horrific pitcher because he's too dumb and not talented enough to be a starter. That's ridiculous. To even reference his starts in A ball is ridiculous too. He's a much different pitcher now. Before you crown the Sox as cellar dwellers and yourself as a genius, maybe give the guy more than 10 innings.

You sure do hope so, don't you? They going to move Halladay to the pen, too? What about Strasburg? Lincecum has a 4.50 ERA, is he bullpen material?? Give me a break. To rely exclusively on results during ST is absurd, especially when it's a pitcher who is just beginning to start and get a feel for some pitches and the wind up. And lets not forget. While he didn't throw great last night, it was still 5 innings, 83 pitches, 49 for strikes (59%), 3 ER. That's a solid outing.

Looked extremely strong after 2nd inning.

I don't think it matters how Bard does next outing. The guy is going to be the #4 starter. He threw 5 and gave up 3 today. That's good work for your 4 guy, and he wasn't even pitching for results. It's almost a 100% certainty that Bard is the #4 man.

No. Just faced the 1 guy. Weird, I know.

Like User Name said - You can't judge by results in Spring Training. Bard was working on some stuff other than just trying to get outs so that when he throws in the season, he's able to utilize all of his stuff to get the results. And besides that, I'll take 6-7 IP, 3 ER from Bard all day, which is what he likely would have given, given the final 3 innings he pitched and where he was in the lineup.

Jesse Carlson, on the other hand, is sitting 82-83... Pass.

Sitting 94-95, touching 96-97. Slider looked pretty filthy in the last few innings.

Good call. Good voice of reason. Hard not to get caught up in results sometimes. Regardless - Bard looked excellent in his final 3 frames, and I'd take 6-7 IP, 3 ER from him any day as the #4 starter. By the way - I meant to say this the other day, but I always wondered why they never just told Andrew Miller to throw exclusively from the stretch. Seems like it's incredibly easier to repeat the delivery from the stretch. And of course I don't say anything, and then Bobby V tells him to throw exclusively from the stretch. I'm excited to see him throw today. I have a good feeling about him.

Came in with 7 in 7.2. Not sure how many he walked today (I think 3?), so 10 in 12.2. But as a starter, meaning taking out that outing when he came in during the 5th when he was supposed to come in during the 4th, which was so incredibly stupid, and then the rain delay, he's walked 6 in 10 IP. Still not great, but I'm ok with it. He looked extremely strong, retiring the last 9, and only threw 80 pitches through 5. That's a 16 pitch average, and would easily get him through 7 IP.

This is true, but at the same time, I'd like to see Bard throw a little higher percentage of first-pitch strikes. Outside of that bad 2nd, he's looked strong.

Line drive hitter though! Unfortunately, those are soft liners that the first baseman has to catch with his glove open side up.

Plus a good sign - Bard's velocity is still at around 96 after 60 pitches. 60 pitches through 4 IP, a 15 pitch average even with the rough 2nd. That's a very good pace - 7 innings, 105 pitches. Exactly where you want to be.

Plus they're working on specific pitches each outing. Bard, for example, is trying to get used to throwing from a wind up, throwing some change ups, etc, stuff he hasn't done in a while.

The bad thing is that Bard looks bad tonight. The good thing is that Bard always sucks during ST, and has never had an ERA under 5.00 during any ST.

I feel the same way about Melancon, and that's why I think that Aceves is going to be the 8th inning guy this year, with Melancon as the 7th inning guy. Aceves actually is as much of a shut down pitcher as Bard is, or extremely close to it. There is no reason to put him in the 6/7 inning and let Melancon set up after seeing Melancon today. I will say this - Andrew Miller looks very good from the stretch. It's much easier to repeat your delivery from the stretch than it is from the wind up, so he could end up being a nice piece to the bullpen if he can keep pumping 97 with a nasty hook. Either way, even though Doubront's outing was not great today, I think he'll be used as the 5th starter, but at the same time, I think two things are going to happen. 1. As much as possible, with off days and rain outs, the Sox are going to try to skip the 5th start and go with a 4 man rotation on regular rest. 2. DiceK will return in mid June, so Doubront will only get around 7-8 starts, assuming they skip his start 2-3 times with off days. So I don't think it's going to become a huge huge issue. And also, don't forget - we're going to have Rich Hill coming back off the DL in May (he's throwing in a game soon), and Hill is filthy against LHH. All that to say this. I think Bobby V is going to stretch out the pitchers more, get them more innings and more pitches. That means getting the ball to the bullpen in the 7th or 8th innings. So, we have Aceves and Bailey for the 7th and 8th, and then I think we'll play the match up game with Miller/Hill facing LHP and then maybe Melancon to face RHH to get us through innings before that. That's my take at least.

I've made this comparison quite a few times, and everytime, I get hammered for even thinking it's possible. I'm with you. I think he'll develop into the 2011 version of Nova and be a huge key to the season.

Game is on the MLB Network on tv

Agree 110%. Francona had his way of managing, Bobby V has his. I think this new style will be very cohesive with the likes of Ellsbury, Crawford, Pedroia, Sweeney, and eventually Iglesias. Just thinking about how frustrating it was to watch everytime one of the Rays or Angels got on base, they would always take an extra bag, force the outfielders and catchers to make a strong and accurate throw. Force them into making errors. I've always loved that style of play and have really wished the Sox would be aggressive like that more often rather than waiting for the 3 run homer. Having that style of play along with the hitters to hit the 3 run homeruns makes this a very dangerous team because now it's not just a power threat team, now the defense has to always be on their toes, whether it's a straight steal, going 1st to 3rd on a base hit on the right side, a delayed steal, etc. This team can manufacture runs or score them in bunches. Not so power-dependent.