Daniel Bard Overcoming Odds and Mental Health Stigma in Sports
Rockies reliever Daniel Bard’s career reflects remarkable changes in the complexion of mental health dialogue across the MLB landscape
As Daniel Bard prepared to defend a 5-2 lead for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against Venezuela, the FOX Sports broadcast team quickly made a note of his extraordinary career arc.
Bard, a 37-year-old journeyman reliever, was completely removed from the game at the time of the last WBC in 2017 due to crippling control issues. Just a few years later, he miraculously made a return to baseball and had become one of the top relief pitchers in the game by 2022.
There seemed to be no better place to share Bard’s heartening tale of triumph than on one of baseball’s most notable stages. The sun shone brightly outside loanDepot Park that evening in Miami as Bard began his outing, but bad weather was brewing under the stadium’s retractable roof.
The storm wasn’t a vortex visible to the sellout crowd of 35,792 attendees or to the 2.26 million viewers on FOX, but rather an unforecastable phenomenon: a disturbance inside the mind of the man on the mound.
Bard’s pitches began to spew erratically as if they were projectiles emitted from a waterspout inbound from Biscayne Bay. The disastrous performance came to a head as an awry delivery struck batter Jose Altuve’s right thumb, forcing Venezuela’s star player out of the game.
Meanwhile, Bard was suffering a less visible ailment of his own. The ensuing delivery sailed behind the following Venezuela hitter, prompting FOX color analyst Yonder Alonso to utter four words that no player wants to hear: He’s got the yips.
USA Manager Mark Derosa pulled Bard from the game, but he hadn’t saved him from the storm.
That would not dissipate as swiftly as the appearance.
Bard’s Journey - The Initial Rise and Fall
Bard’s baseball career first took off at the University of North Carolina, where he was one of the most highly regarded college starting pitchers of the 2006 MLB Draft class.
Ben Cherington was the Boston Red Sox co-general manager at the time and recalls the notoriety of Bard’s collegiate career.
“He always had an electric arm and electric stuff,” said Cherington. “One of my most memorable college scouting weekends of all time was [watching] NC State at UNC with Andrew Miller on Friday night and Daniel Bard on Saturday. They both dominated.”
Both pitchers were on the Red Sox radar come draft day. Boston held the 28th overall pick.
“Miller was picked before we got a chance,” said Cherington. “But Bard was there.”
The Red Sox selected Bard with their first-round pick, and he began his professional career in 2007, splitting time as a starter between Class A Greenville and Class A-Advanced Lancaster.
The righty struggled to a 7.08 ERA in 22 starts (75 innings) with 78 walks to 47 strikeouts before Boston made a career-altering decision to move him to the bullpen the following season.
Bard’s ERA dropped five and a half runs from the season prior in about the same number of innings (77.2). He whiffed 107 batters and dealt just 30 free passes.
“When he was in a good spot, he could do ridiculous things with the baseball,” said Cherington. “He made it very hard to hit.”
Bard reached the major leagues in 2009. Sean McAdam was a well-established Red Sox beat writer at the time of the hurler’s promotion.
“[The Red Sox] had made some mistakes in rushing draft picks to the big leagues a little too quickly,” said McAdam. “But with Bard, it was pretty clear that his meteoric rise was justified in terms of the performance.”
Bard’s dominance as a reliever in the minor leagues translated to the Boston bullpen. He posted a 2.88 ERA (154 ERA+) across part of three seasons with the club from 2009-2011, routinely nearing 100 MPH velocities with his fastball.
“This was at a time when teams were emphasizing having as many hard-throwing late-inning options as they could accumulate,” said McAdam. “Bard was certainly looked upon as an invaluable guy and a big part of [Boston’s] future.”
Since his transition to the bullpen, Bard had largely maintained solid command of his pitches. That changed late in the 2011 season, as the Red Sox found themselves in the midst of the American League playoff hunt.
After allowing just 15 free passes in his first 61 games, Bard walked nine hitters over his final nine outings. He walked three batters in an inning twice in that nine-game sample, something he had only done twice before across 183 major league appearances.
“It really began to manifest itself in that final month of 2011,” said McAdam. “When the Red Sox as a team went into a nosedive.”
Bard’s -1.11 Win Probability Added (WPA) in September was the 10th worst in baseball, a tragic turnaround from his 2.01 WPA through the first five months of the season (30th best in MLB). Boston lost its grasp on a Wildcard spot on a fateful final play of the regular season.
“I think Bard’s poor September that year … was sort of symbolic of the Red Sox’ collapse,” said McAdam.
It was later revealed that an undiagnosed case of thoracic outlet syndrome contributed to Bard’s initial struggles. The following spring, the control issues persisted, and newly hired manager Bobby Valentine made a decision to move him out of his setup role and into the starting rotation.
“If we’re being sympathetic to Valentine’s decision-making,” said McAdam. “Maybe he thought taking [Bard] out of the high-pressure situations and getting him on a routine would address the issue, but it only compounded things.”
Across ten starts, Bard walked 36 hitters and plunked nine in 45.2 innings. He was demoted to AAA Pawtucket and fared no better there, dealing 29 free passes and 10 HBP across 32 frames.
“I think everyone was kind of quietly rooting for him to figure things out,” said McAdam. “Because he was such a nice guy, likable and accommodating.”
Bard pitched in two games for Boston in 2013 before laboring in the minors (27 BB, 11 WP in 15.1 IP). He was ultimately designated for assignment and claimed by the Chicago Cubs in September of 2013.
Bard’s Cubs tenure was the start of a tumultuous four-year stretch spent with six different organizations. He rarely pitched, and, when he did, the results were harrowing: 46 walks and 16 hit-batters in 13 innings.
The righty retired from baseball in 2017 at 32 years of age. But his journey wasn’t over just yet.
The ‘yips’ and mental performance in sports
The yips was a relatively well-known term in baseball at the time of Bard’s initial fallout, yet many around the game couldn’t explain what exactly it entailed or how it occurred.
“[The yips] was not treated as a real symbol that anything was wrong with someone’s mental health,” said McAdam. “We saw it as less of a mental health issue and more of a weird phenomenon that struck a very small percentage of players.”
Dr. Michael Sachs is a professor emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology at Temple University's College of Public Health in Philadelphia, PA. He received his Ph.D. in sport psychology from Florida State University and is a renowned author on the topic.
“The yips is basically an inability to complete a standard set of skills within a particular sport,” said Sachs. “Particularly ones that have been automatized over years and years of training.”
Automatization is the “development of a skill or habit to a point at which it becomes routine and requires little if any conscious effort or direction” according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology. Most of us have automatized tying our shoes, for example.
The inability to move on from a misstep in an ordinarily routine action, such as a professional pitcher’s delivery to home plate, can lead to overthinking and anxiety according to Sachs.
“When you get the yips you start thinking and your automatic movement breaks down,” said Sachs. “Anxiety becomes a part of that because you become anxious about [failure] with every opportunity.”
Anxiety and doubt over a mistake can lead to over-analyzation, which only exacerbates the issue.
“You start breaking down the movement step-by-step,” said Sachs. “That just destroys the movement completely because, by the time you’ve automatized, it’s ingrained in you.”
New studies show that the yips, commonly seen in golfers with severe putting woes, can be related to focal dystonia, a neurological condition that causes spasms in specific muscles when attempting a repeatable task.
An analysis by Temple Lab Technician Brigham Rhoads delineates the complexity of focal dystonia treatment:
“Symptoms caused by focal dystonia arise from a complex combination of anxiety and motor dysfunction. This makes treating the yips a difficult task because relieving the mental aspect may not alleviate the physical aspect. As the symptoms exist at the intersection of the mind and the body, treating either the mental anxiety or the muscular manifestation alone may not return the individual back to peak performance.”
As Brigham reports in his synopsis, cases of the yips have arisen across the sports landscape, with recent examples ranging from renowned Olympic gymnast Simone Biles to first-round NBA Draft pick Markelle Fultz.
There are undoubtedly countless less-drastic instances of performance anxiety across professional and collegiate sports. Thus, organizations have made increased efforts to implement resources for mental performance.
“There are all kinds of coaching resources available to help players be at their best on the field,” said Cherington. “If there’s an opportunity to coach the brain, why would that be any different than coaching any other part of an athlete’s performance?”
Cherington, now the general manager of the Pittsburg Pirates, noted the escalating attempts to support players and staff around the game.
“There’s been a steady increase in resources and investment in that area,” said Cherington. “Along with that, there’s been a steady improvement in how we are supporting players and staff.”
The Pittsburg GM pointed to the growing implementation of one resource in particular within the organization.
“We’ve started offering and encouraging mental-health first-aid training for all Pirates baseball operations staff,” said Cherington. “I think we’re up to 70 or so baseball operations staff who have completed the mental-health first-aid training.”
Cherington noted that the first-aid training is not the same as becoming a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist but added that it is an investment made to put staff in a better position to recognize when someone may be experiencing mental turbulence.
“It’s a small thing, but things like that are relatively low cost and not that hard to do,” said Cherington. “It just takes people making a choice to do it.”
Bard’s Journey - The Return and Rise to Greatness
After his retirement from professional baseball in 2017, Bard found himself swept up in the growing wave of mental performance coaching as the Arizona Diamondbacks hired him as a franchise player mentor.
Stephanie Apstein, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, documented Bard’s journey back to the big leagues in a 2020 SI cover story.
“[Daniel] wanted to talk to players before they started going through crisis so he thought he’d just kind of casually become a part of their lives,” said Apstein. “And the place they were most comfortable was on the field.”
Thus, during his time with Arizona, Bard would often play catch while mentoring players.
“He found he could play catch without wondering where the ball was going, and as they were playing catch some of the players started commenting, ‘man you really still have it,’” said Apstein. “They started suggesting that he try out, but what really struck him is he was having fun. He hadn’t had fun on a baseball field in so long.”
The same lively velocity and movement that made Bard so dominant as a young pitcher was still there. With a newfound passion for the sport, he left his position with the Diamondbacks, held a showcase for MLB teams and was offered a contract by the Rockies in February of 2020.
Cherington recalls the jubilation he experienced when made aware of Bard’s return.
“Joy,” said Cherington. “Pure happiness for him and his family.”
Bard made Colorado’s Opening Day roster and appeared in 23 games across the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He became the team’s closer by the season’s end, recording six saves.
Longtime Rockies play-by-play broadcaster Drew Goodman noted the significance of the hurler’s return to baseball.
“Being out of the game ostensibly for seven years and then getting back to a prominent role is almost unheard of,” said Goodman. “I think everybody who knows the game and what it can do to you from a mental standpoint has the ultimate amount of respect for Daniel.”
The respect for Bard was reflected in his selection as MLB’s 2020 Comeback Player of the Year. In the midst of the pandemic, he provided a story of inspiration, but, as his career arc shows, the path to greatness would be anything but linear.
In 2021, Bard took a major step back, posting a 5.21 ERA across 67 games. He was the fourth-worst reliever by WPA in 2021 (-1.26), and a late-season implosion saw him walk 12 batters in 13.1 innings.
“He was very tough on right-handers in 2021,” said Goodman. “But he struggled considerably against left-handed bats.”
Bard allowed an absurd .319/.407/.600 slash line to lefties across 156 plate appearances. But the hardships he had faced earlier in his career allowed him to adjust to the adversity in stride.
The ensuing year was one of the best relief seasons in Rockies history.
Bard’s 1.79 ERA ranked 10th out of 152 qualified relievers, as he combined well-above average strikeout rates (10.29 K/9) with an elite ability to avoid barrels (i.e. optimally hard-hit line drives & fly balls).
Opponents hit .162 (.178 xBA) and slugged .245 (.264 xSLG) against Bard, who ranked 8th in MLB in both categories. In 2021, he ranked 277th and 246th.
“Daniel is a guy that’s always tinkering and always trying to be better at his craft,” said Goodman. “He spends a lot of time looking at video and studying all the different metrics.”
A major part of Bard’s dominance in 2022 was the alteration and perfection of his release point.
The righty switched from his three-quarter arm slot to more of an over-the-top delivery. The change was a gamble, especially for a player who had previously experienced a traumatic fallout mechanically.
The hard work was evident in the results. He led all relievers with a 4.76 WPA in 2022 while accumulating 34 saves, an incredible turnaround from the year prior.
Bard even received an NL MVP vote for his efforts and was awarded a two-year, $19 million contract by the Rockies midway through the season.
“I don’t care what the challenges were, to go from that [seven-year] gap between Major League appearances and come back and do what he’s done is remarkable and should be celebrated,” said Cherington.
Perceptions of mental health evolving around the game
While Bard’s dominance with Colorado has turned heads, Danielle Allentuck, a Rockies beat writer for The Denver Gazette, notes that perhaps more importantly, his leadership in the clubhouse has benefited the team immensely.
“Daniel is a tremendous person. He is so much more than a player to this team,” said Allentuck. The way he carries himself in the clubhouse, he’s almost like a player-coach.”
Just a couple of weeks after his devastating WBC outing in Miami, the Colorado Rockies placed Bard on the injured list before Opening Day. Anxiety was listed as the injury designation.
Bard openly spoke with Allentuck about his mental health saying: “It's a hard thing to admit. But I've been through this before…I'm extremely grateful to be in an organization that understands these things and is accepting.”
Allentuck respected Bard’s courage to share his experience in the midst of such internal turmoil.
“He really put himself in a vulnerable place,” said Allentuck. “He could have been criticized nationally but he embraced that. He really wanted to make sure that other players behind him knew that it was ok to be like this.”
Goodman applauded Bard’s effort to spread awareness about the subject of mental health.
“I give him a ton of credit for the courage to speak openly about a topic that used to be, especially in sports, looked upon as taboo or a weakness,” said Goodman.
The discussion opened by Bard is one that could have profound impacts that stretch far beyond baseball according to Goodman.
“I think it’s very important for people to be open about discussing mental health because it afflicts so many people,” said Goodman. “It’s very helpful when people realize that they are not alone or in some minority.”
Bard found his choice to speak out benefitted himself as well, according to Allentuck.
“I remember Daniel saying that he wanted to be honest because it made it feel like a weight was being lifted off his shoulders,” said Allentuck. “He said that it would have been so much worse if he hadn’t asked for help.”
Other players around the league have followed suit, such as Austin Meadows of the Detroit Tigers and Trevor May of the Oakland Athletics.
“[Daniel] said that there are probably two to three players in every clubhouse at any given time that should be on the injured list [due to mental health issues],” said Allentuck. “[Resources] need to be more accessible.”
Cherington agreed that the sport needs to continue its efforts to expand mental performance resources for players.
“I think until we can truly think about a psychological need as just the same as a physical need in terms of the resources available we’ll have a ways to go,” said Cherington. “If we get complacent because we think there’s been an improvement, we’ll slow down and nothing will happen.”
Though there is still work to be done, McAdam understands just how far the league has come in terms of the understanding of mental health issues.
“Ten or twenty years ago there wasn’t a reflection that [mental health] could really inhibit your ability to function professionally or personally,” said McAdam. “I think we’ve made strides as a culture and society in recognizing that these are serious and psychological [matters].”
Those who know Bard’s story understand that, in a way, his turbulent career is applicable to everyone.
“Every one of our paths is going to be different and that’s totally ok,” said Cherington. “Daniel has gone down his path, and it’s been a great path for him, enormously successful and inspiring.”
Bard was activated from the injured list on April 19th and has had a successful return to game action through mid-May. Each small victory on and off the mound mirrors a new ray of sunshine piercing through the dissipating storm within the veteran.
Though Bard and other players can’t ensure the skies in their minds will always be clear, with the help of changing perceptions and growing resources around the game, they should feel confident that they are well-equipped for whatever potential misfortune may loom over the horizon.
