Kuzul

Once among the best young relief pitchers in baseball, Boston Red Sox right-hander Daniel Bard looked lost last year during an attempted conversion to the starting rotation. Although he has made great strides to reclaim his career this spring, it appears he still has work to do and will likely start the 2013 season in the minors.  The 27-year-old Bard is a former first-round draft choice of the Red Sox. He posted a combined 2.88 ERA and 9.73 strikeouts per nine innings in his first three major league seasons, which were spent exclusively in the bullpen.  Boston decided to convert him to a starter in 2012, in large part because of his big fastball, which FanGraphs.com indicates has averaged nearly 97 mph during his career. The experiment was a disaster. Bard was just 5-6 with a 6.22 ERA in 17 games (10 starts) last year, while experiencing massive lapses in ...

Shortly after creating MLBDepthCharts.com, I quickly realized just how important it was for fantasy baseball players to find the guy who was “next in line” for saves. Even if it’s just to give the regular closer a break after a few consecutive days of work, saves are valuable for fantasy geeks.  A closer’s job is rarely on solid ground from one game to the next. Despite what else happens throughout the game, a blown save is not something that’s taken lightly in the media or by fans because it’s almost always directly correlated with the final result of the game.  Even the best closers in the game will be scrutinized if they blow three or four saves in a month. If you’re not the best closer in the game and you blow a save or two over the span of a few games, the pressure builds as the next unsuccessful ...

It may have been small, but Boston Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard recently took a positive step forward in his quest to reclaim his career. After three seasons as one of the most dominant setup men in baseball, Bard converted to starting last season, which turned out to be an unqualified disaster. Prior to last year, the hard-throwing right-handed Bard had combined for a 2.88 ERA and better than a strikeout per inning out of the bullpen. In 2012, he lost his control and went 5-6 with a 6.22 ERA in 17 games (10 starts), while earning a highly publicized demotion to the minors after a particularly wild start against the Toronto Blue Jays.He enters the 2013 season without a guaranteed roster spot and many questions about whether he can regain his previous form. His first spring action of the year should give hope that he is getting himself back ...

General manager Ben Cherington, manager Bobby Valentine and the Boston Red Sox have their next big task on their plate—replacing the injured Josh Beckett in the starting rotation. Boston placed Beckett on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed shoulder and has chosen reliever Franklin Morales to take his place tomorrow night, according Ian Browne of MLB.com.It’s still unknown as to how long Beckett will be out for, but you can expect him to miss at least two starts. Morales will start against the Chicago Cubs, but should Daniel Bard take any future starts that Beckett will end up missing? Bard is currently pitching in Triple-A Pawtucket trying to find his feel for the pitching rubber.He’s pitched in three games for the Paw Sox, getting roughed up in the opener and pitching better since. In four innings he’s allowed four earned runs on three hits, while walking two and striking ...

At last, the Boston Red Sox finally made a decision on struggling starting pitcher Daniel Bard.They sent him to Triple-A Pawtucket to try and figure things out without hurting the major league club. A move had to be made after he was taken out of the game in the second inning in his most recent start. The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham didn't seem surprised by the move, as he didn't even comment when tweeting it. Daniel Bard to AAA. #RedSox — Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 5, 2012 I'm glad they finally addressed the situation, but now the Red Sox have to worry about who's going to start against the Washington Nationals on Saturday. This would've been Bard's next start if he wasn't optioned to the minors.The first replacement who comes to mind is Daisuke Matsuzaka, who I made a case for just the other day.Well, things happen and I’ve changed my mind.Why, you ask? ...

To the delight of many Red Sox fans across Red Sox Nation, we heard an announcement in the eighth inning of last night’s meeting against the Minnesota Twins: Daniel Bard was warming up in the bullpen.As it was stated after the debacle—to put it extremely lightly—on Saturday, Daniel Bard was going to be made temporarily available out of the bullpen. Bard has made it clear: he wants to start, and this move will not involve back-to-back games nor will it push back his next scheduled start against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. "Temporary" appears to be the operative word.But with one out and a runner on in the bottom of the eighth inning last night, in came our savior to squash any potential go-ahead effort by the Twins. And here came the biggest decision that Bobby Valentine has had to make since the regular season started: who comes in to close ...

Daniel Bard's success as a starter could very well prove to be the key to a 2012 playoff run for the Boston Red Sox.Then again, he's just as likely to be relegated back to bullpen duty.But with two rotation spots up for grabs, all indications point towards the 26-year-old at least beginning the season in Bobby Valentine's starting-five. As of this writing, Bard and fellow system-product Felix Doubront figure to fill the fourth and fifth spots, with 2011's jack-of-all-trades Alfredo Aceves returning to the 'pen.Nothing's official yet, but can they really send Bard back at this point? Assuming he has nailed down a starting role, what, if anything, has his performance in camp told us? Clearly, a lot of what happens in spring has to be chalked up to pitchers trying out new pitches, tinkering with arm slots, working out the kinks in their mechanics, etc. So the spirit of this ...

At last the waiting is over. Even though it hasn't officially been announced, we now know who the two lucky winners of the spring battle for the No. 4 and 5 spots in the Boston Red Sox starting rotation are; Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard.Boston Globe's Peter Abraham reported the upcoming pitching plans for the next couple of days that virtually leaked the starting rotation for the season.According to Abraham, Clay Buchholz will start in a minor league game tomorrow. On Thursday, Alfredo Aceves will start against the Toronto Blue Jays and Felix Doubront will start in a minor league game. On Friday, Daniel Bard will start against the Minnesota Twins.If all goes according to Abraham's plan, the rotation would be set up as Lester, Beckett, Buccholz, Doubront and Bard.Abraham notes that it probably isn't a coincidence that Doubront will pitch in a minor league game instead of starting against the ...

Innings limits may not always be the most popular thing for managers and owners to impose, but they are definitely important in keeping young arms fresh and healthy.Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told the Washington Post that Stephen Strasburg will be on an innings limit this season. Strasburg will pitch every fifth day from the start of the regular season until he hits the 160-innings mark.The Nationals will not tamper with his outings, allowing him to pitch as deep into games as he is able to. After 160 innings, though, the team will shut him down for the remainder of the season.Strasburg is already one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, striking out 116 batters in just 17 starts. He's walked just 19 batters and pitched to a 2.54 ERA.His growth is nowhere near complete, however. Many feel he has even more room to grow. That's why it's ...

If you haven't looked at it yet, just know that the starting pitching pool is pretty deep this season. Fantasy junkies everywhere should be looking forward to their draft, if they haven't drafted already, of course.There are some pretty good sleepers in the pool. I'm a big fan of Brandon Morrow and Brandon Beachy, and I'm of the mind that Madison Bumgarner could contend for the National League Cy Young this year. But this is not an article about sleepers you should be targeting. This is an article about sleepers that you shouldn't be targeting.There are five risky starting pitchers that spring to mind. I'll count 'em down and explain why they're so risky.5. Hiroki Kuroda, New York YankeesHiroki Kuroda has a career ERA of 3.45 in four season, he's coming off a season in which he posted a career-low 3.07 ERA, and he's joining a Yankees team that is going to ...