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Born:
June 25, 1985
Houston, TX
Height:
6-4
Weight:
200
Bats:
Right
Throws:
Right
Drafted:
1st round, 2006; 20th round, 2003 by NYY
How
Acquired: Draft
College: North Carolina
High
School: Charlotte
Christian (NC)
Photo ©
Kelly O'Connor
Links
Q&A with Daniel Bard
2009 Prospect Preview
The
Ladder 5.7.09 |
Claimed off waivers by Chicago (NL) (Sept. 2013)
Scouting Report:
Live arm with a smooth delivery. His fastball looks effortless
and sits around 96 mph with decent command and average movement. He can
consistently hit 97-99 mph on the radar gun and can reportedly get up to
101 mph when he reaches back. Bard also mixes in an 80-82 mph slider with
some nice bite. His slider really keeps hitters off balance. It can also
dip down to about 76-78 mph with more slurve action. He also has a few
other pitches in his arsenal that aren't used very often, including a
high-80s cutter, a low-90s two-seamer, and a circle change. If a batter is
able to catch up to Bard's fastball, the ball can sail off the bat due to
velocity. He struggled through major control issues throughout the entire
2007 season, particularly with his slurve (a pre-cursor to his slider).
Has a strong frame and a mature demeanor, but has a history of confidence
issues. Bard took well to a bullpen role in the Hawaii League in the
2007-08 offseason and dominated as a full-time reliever in 2008. He
changed his delivery by lowering his arm slot prior to the 2008 season,
adding a little bit of life to his fastball. In the 2008-09 offseason,
Bard again altered his delivery slightly, starting his hands by his chest
rather than his waist and eliminating some unnecessary body movement. That
led to outstanding results in 2009. Struggled mightily with control issues
in 2012 and 2013. |
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