Luke Bard #39

Luke Francis Bard...Last name rhymes with “hard”...On Twitter: @Luke_Bard...Visited patients and their families at CHOC Children’s on May 22, 2019 alongside teammates Mike Trout, Tyler Skaggs and Cody Allen, Hall of Famer Rod Carew and the Minnesota Twins’ Tony Oliva, Mike Morin, Blake Parker, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Gibson...Missed entire 2014 season due to injury...Had arthroscopic shoulder surgery in labrum following 2013 season, where he spent time with three Minnesota affiliates... Married wife Taylor Hall, Jan. 11, 2014...Brother, Daniel Bard, pitched in Majors for five seasons with Red Sox (2009-13) and returned to Majors in 2020 for Rockies and earned N.L. Comeback Player of the Year honors...Cousin John Andreoli appeared in 26 Major League games in 2018 as an outfielder with Seattle and Baltimore...Father, Paul Bard, was sixth round draft pick by Dodgers in 1980 and played five minor league seasons in Dodgers and Orioles systems...Played collegiately at Georgia Tech...Named by Baseball America as 11th best prospect in Atlantic Coast Conference entering 2011 season...Attended Charlotte Christian HS (NC)...Four-year letterwinner in baseball and football (quarterback) and a two-year letterwinner in basketball...Two-year captain of baseball team...Earned Louisville Slugger and National Christian School Athletic Association All-America honors as a senior...North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Player of the Year and Charlotte Weekly Player of the Year in 2009 after going 10-0 with 90 strikeouts and a 0.37 ERA...Originally signed by Twins scout Jack Powell.

2020

Spent majority of season at Alternate Training Site in Long Beach...Appeared in six games for Angels across three Major League stints...Did not walk a batter and only once reached three balls in a count (vs. Dodgers Chris Taylor, Sept. 27 - who ultimately struck out)... Worked at least one inning in four of six appearances and recorded multiple strikeouts in three of six outings...Stranded all four inherited runners on the season...Ranked third among A.L. pitchers (min. 20 BF) with an average spin rate of 2769.7 RPM.

2019

Made Angels Opening Day roster for second straight season...Appeared in 32 total games with Angels across nine Major League stints... Earned first career win May 11 at Baltimore with 1.2 scoreless innings...Had 10 scoreless inning streak, April 26- May 15... Made three starts as Opener, working one inning in each appearance...First two starts were scoreless and allowed one run in final start Sept. 5 at Oakland... Set career highs in innings pitched (3) and strikeouts (5) in winning decision Sept. 18 at Yankee Stadium... Had streak of retiring 23 consecutive batters faced from Sept. 13-26...Streak was snapped with walk to Houston's Alex Bregman in final outing of season, Sept. 28.

2018

Made Major League debut with Angels, March 31, 2018 at Oakland after being acquired by Halos from Twins in Rule 5 Draft in Dec. 2017... Appeared in eight games in relief for Angels last season, before being designated for assignment, Apr. 21 and returned to Twins organization... Pitched remainder of year for Triple-A Rochester, making 32 appearances and averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings (48.1 IP - 52 SO).

2017

Opened season with Double-A Chattanooga...Pitched more than one inning in 20 of 33 appearances for Lookouts ... During 25 game stretch from Apr. 27-July 29, went 3-1 with four saves and a 1.33 ERA (40.2 IP - 6 ER) with 60 strikeouts and 12 walks...His ERA ranked third in Southern League in that span (min. 35 IP) ... Pitched two innings May 13 vs. Birmingham and recorded all six outs via strikeout ... Did not allow a run in 10 of 11 appearances (0.51 ERA; 17.2 IP - 1 ER) from May 24-July 4 and held opponents to a .190 batting average against (12/63) in that span ... Promoted to Triple-A Rochester, Aug. 7...Recorded at least two strikeouts in each of final six relief appearances ... Tossed 1.2 innings-or-more in five of eight appearances for Red Wings.