Is Daniel Bard a Big Game Reliever?

The Boston Red Sox young, flame-throwing reliever, Daniel Bard has a whole lot of potential.

Bard, 24, throws a high 90s fastball and a mid 80s slider with hard break. He mixes those two pitches with a cutter, two-seamer, and circle changeup to keep batters off-balance.

The former North Carolina Tar Heel made his Major League debut on May 13 against the Los Angeles Angels, tossing two scoreless innings in relief.

So far in 2009, Terry Francona has used Bard in low pressure situations. Bard has saved only one game this year, an extra innings contest against the Phillies after Jonathan Papelbon was already used.

While Bard has excelled in most of these low pressure situations, he struggled last night against the Rays.

After Bard took the ball with a 2—1 lead in the eighth inning, he served up a game tying home run to Evan Longoria before walking the bases loaded.

Bard had pitched 14 scoreless innings before he gave up the homer to Longoria, so the kid can pitch.

But can he pitch in big games, in high pressure situations?

It's too early to tell.

Bard has dominating stuff that would translate well to the closer role, but he needs to get more work in more high pressure situations. 

But as Boston lost to the Rays tonight, dropping further behind the Yankees in the AL East, Terry Francona doesn't have too many chances to experiment with Bard.