"I kind of would like to try it. It's something I would like to do. It would kind of challenge myself. You've never proven yourself, but I know I can do the reliever thing for myself, just as a personal challenge, [starting] would be cool." -- Daniel Bard of starting, Feb. 11, 2011.

CHICAGO -- He has done his part.

Daniel Bard first got word that a green light had been given to prepare as a starter early in last offseason, a journey that he knew wasn't going to be without some sort of ups and downs. And it has been an occasionally bumpy ride. But where the righty pitcher finds himself three starts into the adventure is about as encouraging as any of the Red Sox decision-makers could hope for.

"It's hard to put it all into words," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine of Bard's progression following their 10-3 win over the White Sox Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field. "It's gone from -- we've seen an evolution. The first time we looked at him, we were worried if he'd have a windup. He got through the windup. We worried about the third pitch. He got through the third pitch. We worried about his ability to go more than 60 pitches. He just keeps progressing. He's doing well."

The results this time led Bard to his first major league win, a seven-inning, three-run outing in which he struck out six and walked one while throwing 96 pitches. It was the stuff of the kind of starter the Red Sox hoped Bard would one day be.

To a certain extent, that day has arrived. No matter what happens with the bullpen, or with Bard, he has proven his point -- the 26-year-old can be classified as what is often classified as one of the most valuable commodities in baseball, a reliable starting pitcher.

"I just think, and I thought he did a pretty good job of it last time, too, he repeated his delivery and trusted what he's got," said Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure. "He's been doing a good job of that. I think he's confident that he can do it, which is the No. 1 thing, and then the ability to repeat his delivery. You don't have to be perfect when you throw that hard, but to be able to put them in pretty much the area where he's trying to go with them and get easy outs … Shoot, with as easy as his delivery is right now, I think he could easily, if he stays in that delivery, he could go 120-130 pitches. It's getting to that point where he's repeating over and over again. It's fun to watch."

The stats to date are: Three starts, one relief appearance, a 3.72 ERA, .240 batting average against, 19 1/3 innings, 19 strikeouts, 10 walks, 16.2 pitches per inning pitched.

But the numbers are simply a fraction of the story.

Everybody uses the example of former Texas pitcher C.J. Wilson as the aberration when comparing relievers-turned-starters. This was a pitcher who went from pitching 74 games in relief, totaling 1,298 pitches, to a starting pitcher who not only made 33 starts the following season, but turned in 204 innings while tossing a total of 3,441 pitches.

“The biggest single factor to C.J.’s success in the transition, in my opinion, was his desire to do it," wrote Rangers' general manager Jon Daniels in an e-mail prior to the '11 season. "That led to everything else -- the extra work in the weight room, asking questions of Nolan [Ryan], [pitching coach] Mike [Maddux] and others, studying his craft.  Bottom line is he wanted it.”

It sounds a lot like the pitcher who started for the Red Sox Friday night.

Bard could be on pace for just more than 190 innings, and 3,140 pitches, this after coming off a 1,098-pitch season, 73-inning season. Sound familiar? Maybe Wilson wasn't such an aberration after all.

"I honestly -- I know it's been said over and over but I do feel like I've gotten better with each outing, going back to the spring," Bard said. "I've gotten more comfortable with throwing off-speed in fastball counts, I'm more consistently throwing strike one with my fastball, which tonight was huge for me. So, just a combination of things. I'm just learning the nuances of starting. Tonight was I feel like a step in the right direction."

So why is it working?

Start with the fact that, like Wilson, Bard has always accepted this was not going to be a turn-key proposition. As Valentine pointed out after the Sox' latest win, there was a checklist of alterations the pitcher would be forced to make. 

Figuring out how to pitch out of the windup for the first time since 2008. Check. Heading into his third start, Bard had allowed just four hits and four walks in 28 plate appearances with nobody on base.

Become pitch efficient. The last three innings against the White Sox he threw just 28 pitches, 20 of which were for strikes.

And, last but nowhere near least, make sure there is ample pitch diversity. 

Once thought to be a fastball-first pitcher, Bard has not only developed a slider that may actually be his best pitch, but also a highly effective changeup which he incorporated a career-high 24 times Friday night. In fact, of the 58 changeups he has thrown this season, only one -- A.J. Pierzynski's first-inning double -- has resulted in a hit.

He still throws the fastball more than any of his other pitches, but it's usage is trending to be about 15 percent less than a year ago. It also might be that opponents are relying on Bard using the heater as a fail-safe, sitting on it on the way to a .393 batting average vs. the pitch. Conversely, coming into Friday hitters were managing just a .067 average against the slider.

Against the White Sox he got more swings and misses with the slider (four) than he did with the fastball, which got the same amount of whiffs as the change (3).

All of it, giant steps in the right direction. And wasn't that all that the Red Sox asked of Bard in the first place, just keep moving forward?

"There," said Valentine, "was a lot to like from what I saw tonight."