Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/06/red-sox-succeed-while-turning-to-back-end-of-roster-dont-sweat-lineup-card.html
Editor's note: NESN.com is going to tell the story of the 2012 Red Sox in Bobby Valentine’s words. Each game day, we will select the best Valentine quote that sums up the day for the Red Sox.
Bobby Valentine is not a politician as a manager. When coaches around the world of sports like Mike Scioscia or Bill Belichick speak publicly, they will never give away too much and, most importantly, they will never, ever throw a player under the bus.
This is not the kind of manager Valentine is.
Valentine is someone who will say what he thinks, and he isn't afraid to go public with his complaints if he feels using the media as a tool to get his point across will serve his purposes. That being said, it would have been very easy to single out Daniel Bard on Sunday after the right-hander gave up six walks and hit two more Blue Jays in just 1 2/3 innings of work.
After the game Valentine downplayed Bard's struggles, instead making use of the kind of cliches that managers turn to when they want to gloss over a player's inability to execute.
"I don't know [if Bard's start means anything] going forward," Valentine said. "It was just one of those days he couldn't quite find his stuff. He threw a couple good sliders, and that was it for the two innings."
While Valentine may be showing uncharacteristic patience, that's an emotion Red Sox fans are likely running out of with Bard. The 26-year-old converted reliever now has more walks this season than he does strikeouts (37 to 34) and actually seems to be regressing as the year marches forward. With Daisuke Matsuzaka on the precipice of returning to Major League Baseball from the Tommy John surgery he had almost exactly one year ago, fans are already clamoring to see Bard replaced when Dice-K completes his rehab assignment in the minors.
That should really, really say something about how poorly Bard has pitched.
The fact that Matsuzaka is being looked at as a potential rotation savior seems like a case of long-term memory loss, as a year ago he was considered one of the more frustrating players the Red Sox ever had. In fact, it was the same kind of frustration that Bard produces. They're both pitchers with potentially overpowering movement and velocity as well as huge command problems.
As good as Matsuzaka has looked in the minors, it has to be concerning at least in theory that pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery tend to regain all of their velocity but can have trouble controlling the ball the same way. Someone like Stephen Strasburg is a best case scenario, while the Minnesota Twins' Francisco Liriano is an example of someone who throws just as hard as he used to but isn't nearly as effective since the operation.
So, while the time to make a decision on Bard's status in the rotation draws closer with every free pass he issues to opposing batters, the Red Sox had better have options C and D ready behind Matsuzaka.
