10th
For those non-Sox fans out there, this kid Bard, ranked as the #4 system prospect by BA, is the Sox version of Joba Chamberlain as far as a bullpen arm goes. He routinely is in the 97-100mph range on legit radar guns & so far this season his stats at Triple A read like this:
Bard was 1-0 with a 1.12 ERA and 6 saves. In 11 appearance/16 innings, he struck out 29 batters and walked 5. He has only allowed two runs on 6 hits and an opposing batting average of .115
With Dice-K expected back this week Masterson will move back out to the pen giving the Sox 5 power arms, with Okajima & Delcarmen rounding out the group. Oki is very reliable in the right spots & Manny-D is solid but now will become trade bait. Out F’in standing. This also brings an end to human fire starter Javy Lopez Sox career, at least for now, as he goes has been deignated for assignment. They may be able to trade him to the N.L. for an average lower level prospect as he is capable of being an effective lefty when he is pitching well.
Lopez was apparently quite a good hitter in college as well.
