Bard's Changeup Key To Transition From Reliever To Starter

FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS) -- Really, if you break down every single difference between relieving and starting, you could spend hours writing the list.

But for Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure and the transition of Daniel Bard, it comes down to one thing: repetition.

"If he can repeat his delivery for six innings, I don't see any reason why he can't [make the change to starter]," McClure said on Tuesday. "If he's not overthrowing and he's able to maintain his delivery, which is gonna help his command, and he can find a velocity that he can command the baseball at. Because that's the key: Can you repeat your delivery and can you put the ball where you want to put it, even when you're tired? And if you can do that, and you got three pitches, you can start."

Bard, 26, said he's not planning on making any drastic changes to his pitching style.

"Not too much, I think it's just physically getting my body ready to throw 100 pitches instead of 15 or 20," he said. "Not a big difference. I'm still going to go out and get outs. I don't think you're going to see a huge difference in the style of how I pitch or anything."

The big difference will be in the development of that third pitch, which in Bard's case is a changeup. His fastball is obviously his strength that allows the slider to be successful, but facing an order three times through requires more than two plus-pitches.

"I'm going to face hitters a lot more often than I did in the past, and the changeup's always been a good pitch for me, I just haven't used it a lot," Bard said, noting that ideally he'll throw the changeup in the 88-90 mph range. "I'm excited to use it more and throw it against righties. It'll be fun."

In terms of the physical toll on his body, Bard said his workload as a reliever, which forced him to essentially pitch every other day, was just as grueling as that of a starter.

"I think 75 innings out of the pen, throwing every other day is just as much wear on your arm as 200 innings [as a starter]," he said. "Guys who have done both say it's just as tough. You're just as tired at the end of the season. It might not be the innings but I was throwing with a sore arm probably in two-thirds of my outings. And now I won't have to throw with a sore arm hopefully at all."

McClure will certainly be an asset for Bard in his transition, as the coach made the change himself midway through his career. He made 67 starts from 1982-84 after making just five starts from 1975-81. The coach said such a change in those days was hardly seen as revolutionary.

"If you're gonna look at Daniel Bard in that aspect, go back 30, 40 years ago. Even Jim Palmer started out of the bullpen," McClure said. "And Daniel was a starter before, anyway. Now he's got his feet wet as far as relieving, and to me it's not any different. It's just being able to repeat your delivery. I don't think it's as big as a thing. If you mentioned this 30, 40 years ago a guy would go, 'Everyone does it.' It's a little old-school."

Bard did say the change is a challenge, but it provides the type of change that he's looking for.

"It's a good opportunity for me – a great opportunity – to come in and prove that I can do it," he said.