Showing signs of life

Has it really been two weeks since last I posted? Goddamn work getting in the way! Anyway, to say the last couple of weeks have been interesting is an understatement. The Sox actually achieved a series win against the Tampa Bay Rays, taking two of three against the current AL Pennant holders, and there is Manny Ramirez’s suspension but I want to talk about the promotion of fireballing reliever Daniel Bard, called up to take the place of Javier Lopez, who has been unceremoniously shitcanned after an awful start to the season.

Bard has yet to make his debut but I can’t see the wait lasting too long; his 2009 season has gotten off to one hell of a start and he should be well placed to avoid the disaster that was the Cla Meredith experience of 2007 since Bard has established that he is a class above Triple A opposition, an achievement that Meredith has not completed since he was rushed to the Majors in a manner not previously (or since) seen by the FO.

The numbers simply bare out Bard’s dominance; he has a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings this season, punching out a staggering 29 hitters in the process. His fastball alone will get guys out and so long as he can successfully use his secondary pitches, such as his slider, then he should be able to keep the opposition guessing enough to make the fastball a continual out-getter. As with many young pitchers, walks could be an issue and Bard will have to demonstrate better control than he has if he is too avoid becoming another Craig Hansen but the talent is obviously their and with the Sox reeling from the loss of an effective Lopez and uncertainly surrounding Takashi Saito, who performance thus far has been average at best, they suddenly need another viable bullpen arm, especially since Justin Masterson is still in the rotation and figures to be for a few weeks yet.

The bullpen is clearly the Sox’s key strength and needs to be all-powerful if we are to live longest in the AL East; allowing Lopez to pull the group down was not an acceptable option and so his DFA was not a surprise and probably overdue. The rest, Saito aside, appear to be in good form although there have to be question marks over how many base runners Jonathan Papelbon is having to strand each time he takes the mound; he will not get away with it forever.

Anyway, it’ll be exciting to see the Daniel Bard era begin in the next day or so, hopefully he’ll become our Joel Zumaya, which will be pretty cool to watch.