Abraham On Toucher & Rich: Can Farrell Fix Bard's Game?
The Boston Red Sox will introduced their new manager, John Farrell, on Tuesday at noon at Fenway Park.
Peter Abraham joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich Tuesday morning to discuss the new hire, and wonder if he'll be able to fix some of the issues the Red Sox have been dealing with.
One player that had considerable issues in 2012 was starter/reliever Daniel Bard. He started the season off in the Boston rotation, but was moved to Triple-A Pawtucket after a disastrous start in Toronto where he lasted just 1 2/3 innings while walking six batters and hitting two others with pitches.
It didn't get any better for Bard in the minors though. During a game in July he faced just four batters, hitting two, throwing two wild pitches, and allowing three runs without recording an out. Bard also threw a pitch so high it tipped off catcher Ryan Lavarnway's mitt and caught home plate umpire Adam Hamari.
Will Farrell's history as a pitching coach help fix what's wrong with Bard?
"If anybody is it's him," said Abraham. "He's known Bard the whole time, literally from when Bard broke into the league until now. So I think if there's one person out there who can sit Bard down and say, 'listen, here's what you used to be, here's what we think you can do now,' it's probably Farrell."
The guys also discussed whether the players know that it wasn't all the manager's fault for the way this season went and how the rest of the league views Farrell as a manager.
