In 2011, Daniel Bard was well on his way to becoming one of the elite relievers in MLB. The previous season was a breakout campaign where he posted a 1.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and averaged a K per inning. His average fastball velocity was a sizzling 97.9 mph. 2011 was quite similar, and he even set a new Red Sox record for consecutive appearances without giving up a run (25). At just 26 years of age, he had an incredibly bright future ahead of him.
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| Better days... |
That same year, however, things began to unravel. In September, he posted a 10.64 ERA, and he walked more people that month (9) than in the previous three months combined (8). On September 4th, the Red Sox were 9 games ahead of the Rays for the AL Wild Card, but then squandered that lead and missed the playoffs. Based on the metric WPA (win probability added), Bard was most responsible for the Red Sox's collapse at the end of that year. Somehow, things were going to get even worse...
