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SO THAT'S WHY JOSH BARD HAS BEEN SO BAD THIS SEASON by Jason Martinez sdpadrefan.com posted 5/12/08 Some of the most memorable moments in sports history have been made by athletes that were battling injuries or sickness. Kirk Gibson's limp-off home run in the 1988 World Series comes to mind. Remember Curt Schilling and the bloody sock game? Albert Pujols is batting .348 with 7 homers and 25 RBI's while battling though a nagging elbow injury this season. What about Josh Bard, hitting .204 with 0 homers and six RBI's despite soreness in his surgically repaired right wrist? Wait. I guess that doesn't quite fit with the others. Manager Bud Black has stated that the soreness in Bard's wrist is not related to his batting slump. Really? Most athletes don't like to make excuses, but I would hope his slump is injury-related. If not, how else would you explain his total inability to hit the ball with any authority this season. And while he's not known for having a great throwing arm, Bard, 30, has thrown one too many lollipops to second base this season while attempting to throw out a base runner. I don't remember his throwing arm being that bad and I don't remember him being this weak of a hitter. In comparison, rookie catcher Luke Carlin gunned down an attempted base stealer in yesterday's game and also ripped a double down the right-field line. When is the last time Bard has done that in a game? I'm not being a Josh Bard hater. I really am a big fan. He proved last season that he was one of the best clutch hitter in baseball, batting .406 with runners in scoring position. He led the team in hitting with a .285 batting average. He hit over .300 in June, July, and September. But If you're hitting .204 on May 12th, it's not because you're a slow starter. Something else must be going on. Maybe his wrist is bothering him more than he's leading on? It's hard enough to hit a 95 mph fastball when your wrist doesn't hurt. I truly admire Bard's efforts. He's a hard-nosed player, the kind of guy that will catch a 22-inning game without one complaint. He won't make excuses. But at some point, an injured player is hurting the team more than helping it. If he continues to struggle, especially offensively, I believe that Bard will be hurting this team by trying to play through the pain. If Michael Barrett ever makes it back from the DL, maybe he and Bard can switch places. |