Fireballing Bard's promotion comes quick

Bard's pitching arsenal revolves around his 100-mile-per-hour fastball, and the whole package bordered on unfair at Triple A. He faced 58 batters in 16 innings this season. Six managed hits. Twenty-nine, exactly half, struck out.

Bard had achieved the tall-tale status conferred upon baseball prospects, their deeds whispered about but hidden from the view of most. He was too good to be kept behind a small-town, small-park curtain; Bard was a major leaguer. It just became official late Saturday night, when the Red Sox called him up.

"It seemed like the right time," said general manager Theo Epstein.

Bard replaced Javier Lopez in the Red Sox bullpen, a swap notable for its disparity. Lopez, a lefthander, relies on his craftiness. Bard's right arm is one in a million.

Bard's ascent seemed inevitable after spring training, which he spent making major league batters shake their heads and scouts gape at radar guns. He pitched 10 1/3 innings and did not allow a run. He struck out 14, and when his fastball touched 100, word spread.

"He was the talk of camp," said manager Terry Francona. "Probably not our camp, but everywhere you went, everybody was talking about him."

Bard left spring training hoping he'd receive his first major league chance this season, and it came sooner than he expected. He so thoroughly dominated in Triple A that the question seemed worth asking: Did pitching there start to seem easy?

Bard, 23, laughed before he answered.

"This game is never easy," he said. "As soon as you start to think it's easy and you kind of let up on the work between outings, you get humbled pretty quick."

He knows. In 2007, dominance for Bard was a distant hope.

"I can laugh about it now," he said.

In 75 innings at Single A, he walked 78 and struck out 47. He allowed more than two runners per inning and posted a 7.08 ERA.

"I've had times where I've maybe let up on a couple workouts, I could feel my legs over the course of a couple weeks not as strong," Bard said. "You learn from that stuff, what you need to do to have your body ready.

"I think it's just maturing. Every player goes through it, and I think I'm still young enough where you can always learn things, especially where I'm at. I don't think I'm a finished product or anything. I've still got a lot to learn."

The Sox wanted Bard to work on his command, his poise, and his offspeed stuff at Pawtucket this season. His lodestone is his 100-m.p.h. fastball, but "it's not what will define his career," Epstein said. "It's what he does with it."

Bard's confidence in his offspeed pitch has blossomed since the spring, but not his ability to define it. The pitch started as a curveball, but it now moves more like a slider. A "slurve," Francona said. His fastball is so good that merely throwing his slider for a strike keeps hitters honest. Bard is comfortable enough to throw it when behind in the count.

"His slider is starting to drop," Epstein said. "He's still working on it. The firmer, tighter, and later it is, the better it is."

Bard's future is unlimited but, for the moment, undefined. The Red Sox don't want to give him more than he can handle. Francona spoke ruefully yesterday about Cla Meredith, a former Sox prospect he now feels he rushed to the majors. He doesn't want to make the same mistake with Bard.

"Is he here to stay? We really don't know," Francona said. "I don't think that is the most urgent thing on everybody's mind. I think the experience will be fantastic and we think he can help us win at the same time. We've tried to balance this in the past and we'll continue to try."

Bard learned late Saturday night, after Pawtucket lost at Columbus, that he was headed to Boston. A half-hour after the game, PawSox manager Ron Johnson called Bard into his office, then quickly sent him back out and told him to come back in 20 minutes. Bard showered and returned. Johnson was still on the phone. Bard figured something odd was happening. He finally sat down in Johnson's office. The manager told him he had a flight to Providence at 9 a.m.

Bard landed and headed straight to McCoy Stadium to gather his things. He drove to Fenway Park and called a few people close to him. His girlfriend and a few family members got tickets for last night's game against Tampa Bay.

"I wasn't expecting it this soon, because the pitching staff has been doing well and it's a pretty full staff," Bard said. "It's a great opportunity, and I feel like I'm ready to take it on."

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com