Bard, who last saw game action May 15, is throwing only bullpens right now. Bard is getting the time off to deal with both mental and pitching struggles. He has a 6.39 ERA over 12 2/3 innings with Portland with 17 walks. 

"I’m concerned over, of course, how he’s doing mentally," Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves said told WEEI.com. "You’re always concerned about a guy’s mental state when he’s engaged in an at-bat and doesn’t do well. It continues to be the same thing."

Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino weighed in Thursday saying the Red Sox aren't giving up on Bard.

"The general plan is one of patience," Lucchino said. "Daniel has tremendous talent, he’s shown that at the big-league level. You don’t need to be a pitching guru to appreciate the kind of pitcher that he once was. We think he can regain that. But it’s going to take some patience, it’s going to take some specialized tutoring and attention. I hope he can bounce back. There’s plenty of room in our bullpen for him."

On Wednesday, Bard gave up a hit, unleashed two wild pitches and walked five batters over one inning. He gave up two runs in that inning. Bard worked around two walks in the sixth inning before recording three outs. He then walked all three batters he faced in the seventh before being removed. 

In five appearances since returning to Double-A after a brief promotion to the big leagues, Bard has thrown strikes on just 34 percent of his pitches. He has 13 walks over 3 2/3 innings. 

Bard has had trouble throwing strikes since being demoted to Portland in late April. Saturday was the fourth-straight outing he failed to throw more than 50 percent of his pitches for strikes. In fact, he's had a 37 percent strike rate (29 of 79 pitches) since his return, according to WEEI.