This week in Nick Cafardo’s “On Baseball” column talks about the conversion of Daniel Bard from setup man to starter. The article quotes new pitching coach Bob McClure, who made the move himself at age 30: “A lot of us were brought up through the pen and went into the starting rotation. If you’re going to look at Bard, go back 30-40 years ago. Even Jim Palmer started out of the bullpen.” Personally, I remember Ron Guidry also starting out that way.
Cafardo then talks about some cases where the move worked (Alexi Ogando of the Rangers) and where it didn’t (the Yankees’ Joba Chamberlain). Bard seems positive about the change, though he says his velocity may diminish somewhat.
A problem exists for the Sox, however. With the departure of Jonathan Papelbon, they must now fill both the setup man and closer spots. The top candidates would seem to be Andrew Bailey, acquired from Oakland for Josh Reddick and two prospects, and Mark Melancon, obtained from Houston for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland. Of the two, Bailey, who was 2009 AL Rookie of the Year, has the better stats (75 saves in three years), though his ERA jumped to over 3 in 2011 as he battled injuries. Melancon is slightly younger at 26, and bounced around a bit before a breakout season last year in which he had an 8-4 mark with 25 saves.
Since Bailey has more experience as a closer, he would appear to have the inside track there. Melancon may face some competition as a setup man from Felix Doubront, but he has been a disappointment so far.
The Sox hope that Bailey and Melancon fill the spots. If not, the Bard experiment may not work and the rotation could be short a starter.
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