Bard OK with heading to the pen temporarily

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MINNEAPOLIS -- Daniel Bard is perfectly willing to return to the bullpen for a couple of days after having his turn skipped in the starting rotation, but has "assurances" from management that he make his scheduled start Friday and remain in the rotation.

When the Sox were rained out Sunday night with Bard set to start, the Sox decided to have him skipped so that Jon Lester and Josh Beckett could go on regular rest. With Bard skipped, the Sox could use him in relief Monday or Tuesday night to help with their beleaguered bullpen, which boasts a 8.44 ERA for the season.

"They asked me, being down for 10 days between starters, whether I could be available for a couple of games," said Bard. "I told them that I could. That's where we're going from here."

Bard met with both Bobby Valentine and Ben Cherington Sunday.

"I asked a lot of questions," said Bard, "as to what their goals were in this. They said right now they have every intention of it being temporary. I'm making my start on Friday (in Chicago). That's where I'm at right now. I still view myself as a starter. They said that they do, too. They said that's where they want me in the long run, but for now they said were trying to address a need for a couple of days and keep me from going 10 days without throwing. I told them I was OK with for it now."

Because he never threw on back-to-back days all spring, Bard told Valentine and Cherington that pitching Monday and Tuesday in relief "is out of the question for health reasons . . . I don't think it would be fair to ask me and they were totally in agreement on that."

Said Valentine when asked if there might be a temptation to move Bard back to relief duty full-time. "It doesn't look like it's a great temptation. Daniel's pretty well set on being a starter. He's pitched real well in the starting rotation . . . It's to keep him sharp. I'm not sure if we have a one-run lead in the eighth inning that he'll have the ball. (But) he'll be ready to be in the game."

Asked if he thought he could be more helpful in the bullpen than in the rotation, Bard said: "That's not for me to decide. I feel like I've done my job as a starter and they're trying to address a need. Whether I can completely turn everything around down there is to be determined. I'm looking at it as today or tomorrow and see what happens."

Bard said Valentine and Cherington didn't mention whether he would be used in a save situation.

(Valentine) said, 'Be ready in the eighth inning,'" said Bard. "I'll be ready."

Bard seemed leery of being thought of as a staff savior and attempted to tamp down expectations that he alone could straighten out the Boston bullpen.

"The one thing I told them right away is, I'm totally willing to do this,'' said Bard. "I told them it's their decision how to use me. So I was OK with it. (But) I told them, 'Don't expect me to go down there . . . I'm not going to be able to make eight guys pitch better. I can go down and do what I can and if that offers some comfort to the other guys and lets guys fall into their role, then maybe it can help everybody.

"I think that's the goal."

Bard noted that being skipped and then pitching in relief is "an unusual circumstance. But so is being 4-10. I guess it's an unusual circumstance that calls for an unusual role change for now."

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