Sounds like he wants back in the pen.

Also, wasn't Bard throwing much harder than that his first few starts?

when I was throwing 98 out of the bullpen and now I’m only throwing my best fastball and reaching back and it’s 92 or 93, there’s something that comes with that,

The "something that comes with that" is usually Tommy John surgery.

Not really. Velocity decline is more related to shoulder injuries than elbows.

Sounds like he wants back in the pen.

Not at all. The preceding part of the quoted bits from Bard:

“They asked me basically, ‘How do you feel with the starter or reliever thing?’” he said. “And I said ‘I still feel like I can do either one.’ If I had been pitching what I thought was my best the last two months in the starting role and putting up the same numbers, I would probably say ‘let’s can it.’ But I know I haven’t pitched as well as I’m capable of.”

And, he got lit up tonight in AAA. And, Jerry Remy is making excuses during the Red Sox broadcast about him getting adjusted to AAA. I'm beginning to grow tired of Daniel Bard.

Even if they can't diagnose something wrong it's nothing but common sense to give him some rest now.

And, he got lit up tonight in AAA. And, Jerry Remy is making excuses during the Red Sox broadcast about him getting adjusted to AAA. I'm beginning to grow tired of Daniel Bard.

Well, golly gee, the management put him into a position for him to fail, and so it's all his fault. Gotcha.

Huh? How did they do that? He wanted to start, they let him. He failed, on his own, they send him down, he looks bad down there. How is this management's fault?

It's nobody's fault. He is undergoing a job transition, a whole new approach to pitching requiring some drastic changes, and there have been some bumps, even some big ones. Jesus Christ, you guys are acting like Red Sox fans.

Right, it's no one's fault. I'm sure he wants to pitch better, I'm sure management wants him to pitch better. Not that I'm excited about him pitching poorly, what I meant was that I'm growing tired of hearing from him.

Team's in a tailspin earlier this year, Bard's start is skipped. He's quoted talking about how he can be available out of the bullpen, but still considers himself a starter, can't go back-to-back games, etc. Correct answer was "I'll do whatever I can to help this team".

Gets shelled, gets sent down to AAA to work on some things, discusses how disappointed he is, how he feels he would rather stay in the big leagues, and the "employee" comment, which is more or less complaining about being disrespected. Correct answer was "With the way I just pitched, I'm lucky they didn't send me down to AA"

#9 ^ was just snark, BTW -- the predictability of Red Sox fan complaining is just too easy to ridicule.

Not really. Velocity decline is more related to shoulder injuries than elbows.

I'm not sure this is true. When your elbow hurts you take a little off, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid jostling it too much.

When your elbow hurts you take a little off, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid jostling it too much.

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all lead up to TJS, but I do seem to recall at least some pitchers who were just fine until all of a sudden the ligament popped.

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all lead up to TJS, but I do seem to recall at least some pitchers who were just fine until all of a sudden the ligament popped.

Sometimes the elbow ligament frays and never completely goes, just gets thinned to the point that it has to be replaced. John Smoltz for example had a long, slow march towards Tommy John surgery. His velocity dipped a couple of mph, but the big indicator was that he was constantly futzing around with arm angles, going from overhand more towards three-quarters, in an effort to find a position in which his arm didn't hurt. This caused some control issues. Also, presumably to avoid pain, he started trying to find ways to avoid throwing his slider (including throwing a few knuckleballs, which were awesome and totally freaked out hitters when they came on the heels of a 94 mph fastball).