Daniel Bard released by Texas Rangers

When we last heard from former Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Daniel Bard in this space, he was allowing 13 (!) runs while not allowing a single hit while with the single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately for Bard, his attempt at a comeback in baseball has taken yet another hit, as he was released by the organization on Thursday.

The 29-year-old Bard posted a 175.50 ERA (not a misprint) while facing 18 batters during his time with the Rangers organization, and despite that relatively small sample, the organization apparently did not see anything to salvage. Bard has struggled mightily with control (the main reason for his massive fall from grace) since the 2012 season with the Red Sox, when they non-coincidentally attempted to shift their once dominant reliever into a starting pitching role.

During that 2012 campaign, Bard walked 6.52 batters per 9 innings over 17 appearances and 10 starts, and since that point in time, things have gotten worse to the point where he had visible issues during winter ball with the Cubs this off-season. At one point in time, the hard-throwing reliever racked up a 1.93 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning over a full season with Boston, but that pitcher seemingly doesn’t exist right now.

The story of Daniel Bard continues to get sadder by the day, but this is quite honestly a new low. It is impossible not to root for Bard to succeed in his comeback attempt, but evidence continues to mount to the contrary.