Here's a story from my "On Baseball" column in the Woburn Daily Times about a quasi-local guy done good.  Sox prospect Daniel Bard struggled mightily with control and command during his short time as a starting pitcher in the pros, but he gained a comfort level while pitching relief in the Hawaiian Winter League, and has taken it to the next level at Single-A this season.

Relievers can rise fast through the minor league ranks of a given baseball organization, and this 22-year-old kid could very quickly develop into one to watch. The biggest question now is how much more he has to accomplish to advance to the next leve.

Things are starting to come together for Daniel Bard now that the Red Sox organization has wisely moved the 100-mph throwing phenom into the bullpen.

The grandson of Reading, Mass. resident and former MIT and Holy Cross baseball coach Fran O'Brien and the son of Reading High School grad Kathy (O'Brien) Bard, the right-hander had scuffled a bit within the Sox organization since being Boston's first round pick in the 2006 draft.

Bard put up a 24-13 record in three seasons at the University of North Carolina and showed off the kind of raw, unharnessed stuff that can translate into a top-notch starter in the big leagues, but the young pro struggled with command and his confidence during a pair of difficult stops in Single-A last season.

The 23-year-old walked an out-of-control 78 batters in 75 1/3 innings in 22 starts split up between the Greenville Drive and the Lancaster JetHawks, and put up a very un-prospect-like 7.05 ERA in his first pro season.

The Sox player development people went back to the drawing board a little bit with Bard after last season, though, and opted to send him to the Hawaiian Winter League in the off-season and work him out of the bullpen — a move designed to tinker with another possible career path for Bard and the kind of assignment that could potentially give the young right-hander enough work to refine his hammer curveball and unleash the potential locked within the high-90's fastball.

Amazingly enough, things clicked almost immediately for Bard as he came out of the 'pen.

"He's brought a different attitude to this role and he's really started to pound the zone — not only with his fastball but also with his breaking ball," said Sox Director of Player Development Mike Hazen. "We've also started to see the power re-emerge with Daniel as well.

"His fastball velocity has consistently been in the 97-99 mph range, and his curveball has gone from 72-mph to the high 70's and low 80's and has really taken on the life of a power curveball," added Hazen of the 22-year-old righty. "I think it's one of those things where he doesn't feel like he has to pace himself through five or six innings anymore, and he can simply just come into a game and say to himself 'I just have three outs that I'm going to come in and get, and I'm just going to blow people away."

Bard pitched for Honolulu out of the bullpen and put up a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings while still battling quite a bit with command and striking out (15) just as many as he issued free passes to (15). The command challenges have seemingly disappeared this spring, however, as Bard keeps making the adjustment to a simpler life in the bullpen, and the Sox development staff begins to see the youngster carving out of potential career path for himself.

"He's trying to throw the ball 97-mph and throw a power curveball where last year he was simply trying to place the baseball and worrying about where he was going to be three innings later," said Hazen. "The concern is gone. A lot of it his mental now for Daniel, and that trigger that's been lifted has really helped for him.

"At some point in the player development system we need to open our eyes to what the players are telling us with their performance, and I don't think this one takes any rocket science to figure out," added Hazen. "I think we were a little mystified with last year and he was a little mystified with last year, and we have a guy now we have someone with a little confidence behind him in games."

Bard has pitched in eight games for the Greenville Drive this season and the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder has struck out 32 batters and allowed only eight hits in 20 innings of lights out work. The Single-A batters haven't mustered up a single run against the heat-throwing Bard and he's limited batters — the same ones that tagged for a 6.39 ERA last season — to a .123 batting average after three weeks of baseball this season.

Perhaps the biggest single stat on Bard's line, however is his bases on balls: a scant four. Seemingly overnight, the 22-year-old has regained the strike zone and morphed into a dominant bullpen force.

"When you have a 100-mph fastball and a hammer curveball then all of the tool are there to be an effective reliever, and it's been good to see some results for Daniel," said Hazen. "All the tools are there for Bard to continue to develop in that role and eventually — if he continues to work hard and improve —- be a guy working in the back end of the bullpen for the Red Sox someday."

While the Sox have Jonathan Papelbon firmly entrenched as their closer at the Major League level, minor league prognosticators have put Kyle Farnsworth as a good big league comparison for Bard's big league potential — an easy parallel that could have advancement up the ranks as a reliever happen sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned to Bard's Tale.