Rockies place Bard on 15-day IL with anxiety

The Colorado Rockies placed closer Daniel Bard on the 15-day injured list as he deals with anxiety, according to Danielle Allentuck of The Denver Gazette.

"It's a hard thing to admit. But I've been through this before," Bard said. "I have enough going on outside the game to realize what's important. ... I'm extremely grateful to be in an organization that understands these things and is accepting."

Bard struggled while pitching for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, posting a 43.20 ERA over three appearances. He allowed four runs without recording an out and broke Jose Altuve's thumb with an errant pitch during a game against Venezuela.

Bard dealt with the yips for several years and didn't appear in a major-league game from 2014-19.

Despite Bard's struggles, Rockies manager Bud Black wasn't convinced it could be chalked up to the yips.

"He's pitching for his country in front of a big crowd," Black said, according to MLB.com's Manny Randhawa. "He only had three or four outings with us this spring, and Daniel's got a lot of moving parts in his delivery. He was just out of whack."

Bard had a renaissance season for the Rockies in 2022. The veteran hurler racked up 34 saves with a sparkling 1.79 ERA and earned a two-year, $19-million contract extension in July.