First pitch: Daniel Bard is ready for Jose Altuve reunion and Astros boos that come with it

DENVER — It’s been more than three months since the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic, but there is still a bit of unresolved business from the WBC that will likely be wrapped up this week when the Colorado Rockies visit the Houston Astros.

It was March 18 in Miami when, in a WBC quarterfinal matchup between the United States and Venezuela, USA reliever Daniel Bard unleashed a high pitch that struck Venezuelan batter Jose Altuve in the right hand. That errant pitch would send Altuve out of the game and force the All-Star second baseman to the injured list with a broken hand.

Altuve made his season debut on May 19, strengthening the lineup for the defending World Champion Astros. He will likely be in the lineup when Houston welcomes Colorado into Minute Maid Park for a two-game set starting on the Fourth of July. The day is, of course, ironic as Astros fans are expected to cause plenty of fireworks if Bard enters the game in a late-inning pressure situation.

Expect the boos to be loud for the Rockies reliever, who started on the season on the injured list as well while dealing with anxiety. The issues for Bard were showing that night when he hit Altuve. Bard faced four Venezuelan batters that night. He gave up a hit, walked two, plunked Altuve, and uncorked two wild pitches while never recording an out.

Different circumstances for Daniel Bard, Jose Altuve when Rockies and Astros meet on Tuesday

Bard hasn’t been shy about talking about the anxiety issues he dealt with earlier in the season. He also knows he is in a better place, both mentally and physically than he was on that high-intensity March night in south Florida.

“My mind is just a lot clearer to begin with,” Bard said inside the Colorado Rockies dugout over the weekend. “That took a lot of intentional work and time away from the game, which I didn’t anticipate happening. I know it helped me tremendously. Just having a clear mind, I’ve been able to do compete with what I have. I haven’t gotten all the way back physically to what I want to be able to do and what I know I can do, but I think my velocity has ticked back up over the past couple of weeks. It feels really good and I think that’s coming from my body moving better.”

While that’s all about the present, Bard also knows there will be moments from the last meeting between he and Altuve that will come back into focus this week. He says that he did not reach out to Altuve after the pitch but expressed his remorse publicly for what happened right after the USA-Venezuela game.

He affirmed those feelings of regret this weekend as the series between the Rockies and Astros drew closer.

“I thought about reaching out. I don’t ever know what the right thing to do there is. I wasn’t throwing at him. I think he knows that,” Bard said. “It was pretty clear I didn’t have a good feel for any of my pitches that day. I hate the fact that he missed time for it (being hit by the pitch). You never want to injure somebody or put them out for a long stretch.

“In that moment, I was competing with what I had, which was not much. It was an unfortunate outcome.”

Bard said he hopes to be able to say something to Altuve before the game on Tuesday, but is also prepared to hear the boos of Astros fans during this series. After all that he has been through dealing with anxiety, including being forced from the game between 2013-2020 because of “the yips,” Bard returned to the mound during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign after being given a chance by the Rockies. He posted six saves along with an ERA+ of 143 to earn National League Comeback Player of the Year.

He’s endured a lot in his career and life, and the 38-year-old right-hander is ready to embrace whatever crowd reaction comes in the Lone Star State.

“Those moments, I’ve gotten better at just enjoying them. I’ll probably just laugh. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll tip my hat,” Bard said. “I hadn’t really thought about that. We’ll see what happens.”

After all that has already happened this season for Bard and Altuve and the hurdles they have both overcome, Tuesday’s get-together in Houston will likely be something to watch as the saga that began before the season hopefully reaches its conclusion.