Red Sox Call Up Daniel Bard

Another highly regarded prospect will make his major league debut for the Red Sox in the very near future. Boston has called up flame-throwing relief pitcher Daniel Bard from Triple-A Pawtucket, designating left-handed specialist Javier Lopez for assignment to make room for him.

Bard, a first-round draft pick in 2006 out of the University of North Carolina, is best known for his ability to light up the radar gun. His fastball normally sits in the upper 90s (mph), and he's capable of hitting triple digits.

The right-hander has performed well in the minors so far this season, striking out 29 in 16 innings and posting a 1.12 ERA.

Assuming that success continues at the next level, manager Terry Francona will have yet another power arm to turn to in the late innings along with Ramon Ramirez and Jonathan Papelbon, further lengthening one of the better bullpens in baseball.

With Bard so thoroughly dominating the minors, there was little reason for the Red Sox to keep him there, particularly with a side-winding southpaw like Lopez standing in his way. Francona already has two left-handers at his disposal in the form of Hideki Okajima and Hunter Jones and should be able to make better use of a reliever like Bard, who can miss bats on both sides of the plate.