29
2012
Bobby Parnell Is A Completely Different Pitcher In 2012
An article by 
Bobby Parnell’s career with the Mets had been overshadowed by control issues. A kid with great stuff but overthrows and has very little command. A prospect with promise, but had yet to have consistent success as a starter, reliever or closer. He could walk the bases loaded as easily as he could strike out the side. There was no telling nessecarily what Parnell you would get on any given day.
That Bobby Parnell seems like a distant memory now. In 2012 we have see the progression of Parnell from a nervous reliever who went with a philosophy of throwing as hard as possible and hoping for the best, to the makings of a future –or now present– closer, who has come to the realization that throwing 95-96 and being able to place it where he wants it is much more effective than throwing at 102 and having it skip to the backstop.
It ended up paying off that the Mets chose not to trade Jason Isringhausen last July at the trade deadline, as he taught Parnell a pitch that has become a go-to pitch in his repetoire, leading to his success in 2012: the knuckle curve. Parnell says he feels comfortable using this pitch in key situations, late in the count, possibly now that he is the closer, with the game on the line.
Surrounded by a bullpen of seasoned veterans and journeymen releivers who have been anything but effective, Parnell has shined, failing to catch whatever bug has so brutily bitten the New York Mets bullpen in this first half of the 2012 season. He has put himself in a bubble, making writers have to put a “with exception to…” when making blanket statements about the Mets ‘pen.
No longer a rookie fireballer who would make you sweat when he took to the mound, but rather a 27-year old entering the prime of his career, that can come in and at least give you hope that there is a chance of surviving the late innings of a given ballgame when the starter’s day is done.
No more a prospect of wildness, but a man of precision, Bobby Parnell has come into his own this season, and we can only hope his progression continues as the New York Mets try to make a 1969-esq run as we enter the second half of this season.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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I agree on him benefiting from Izzy being around him last year Clayton. Parnell like so may pitchers this season has struggled at being consistent. He got his 1st save after 3 blown saves last night and if he can keep that up it can only make the pen that much stronger.
One thing about Parnell this season that should be notedd is how drastic his home and road splits are in ERA & BAA.
Parnell sports a
1.62/ERA – Home
4.70/ERA – Road
.177/BAA – Home
.319/BAA – Road
I actually hadn’t noticed those drastic splits. But as for the save opportunities, he has gotten bad luck. There was that one game where the defense blew it despite Parnell pitching incredible in that crazy game I believe in late May or early june on the road.
Granted he still has a ways to go, Parnell has made terrific strides from that 24 year old being jostled from the rotation to the back of the ‘pen.
he was pitching when Jordany single handedly lost a game to the Nats, wasn’t he? And there was another (I think just before or after) where he again did a real good job, and the D let him down.
Yes, he’s forced batters into providing grounders in critical situations only to see the ball go through the s/s wickets into the o/f. This infield has put a lot of pressure on Parnell unfairly and that has put a large negative impact upon his record. It’s very easy for fans to forget how well he has actually pitched when the performance is tainted by unerarned runs. That has happened to him several times. What happened about the concept of defense up the middle on this team? Hopefully, the defense will be improved with the return of Tejada.
Lets just wait and see Parnell in this “completely different pitcher” mode for a few more save opportunities before we anoint him as the savior, shall we?
Agreed. I could’ve sworn there was an article like this earlier this season. Bottom line: let’s not get too excited about Parnell. Every time we do, we’re disappointed. The guy can still be streaky at times and in big spots. I’m not gonna be impressed over one outing against an unintimidating Dodger team they’re putting out right now.
I’m not ready to declare him the closer for the next ten years or anything like that, but the fact is he’s been their best reliever this year, and he’s looked pretty damn good for the most part. So he deserves some praise.
That’s the problem right there: He’s the best reliever in a cluster**** of a bullpen (although Byrdak may challenge that theory of being the best reliever, having the lowest H/9 with 4.4, the only reliever with a WHIP under 1 and the highest SO/9 with 10.) Not taking anything away from him, but when he’s put on the spot against a big time team and he succeeds, I’ll start to think otherwise.
Doesn’t mean he hasn’t been good. I’ll take a 3.09 ERA any day of the week. Brydak’s fine, but his role is smaller. Again, I’m not saying he’s done enough to prove that he can be a good closer, but I don’t know how you can’t at least be happy with what he’s done this year.
You Stealing my Material Clayton? LOL
I said the same exact things earlier today!
Metsie June 29, 2012 at 11:15 am .
Parnell is not the same Parnell we saw lose it last year. Something is different and it is more than just learning a new knucklecurve…
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/06/young-outduels-capuano-in-3-2-victory-over-the-dodgers.html
LOL and in case you didn’t know you have my full permission to do it anytimke you want because it’s true.
It’s not just the new pitch that has helped but the fact that he isn’t trying to break the radar gun that has helped his control and walks…
Another thing to note is he has more GB outs than anyone else in the pen.
Even more than Bautista if I’m not mistaken but it’s hard to say since Bautista’s stats have a few starts in there as well.
Haha Metsie my deepest apologies. I forgot you had a patent on positive thoughts regarding Bobby Parnell hahaha
.
But seriously, Parnell has matured leaps and bounds from past years. When I interviewed him in September, he told me that he didn’t see a difference between closing and si
Setting up, but that didn’t translate on the field. Hopefully with this newfound maturity in 2012 it will continue to be a different story.
LOL no need to ap[ologize…just foolin with you…it’s pretty clear to anyone who has seen Parnell lastb year to this that something has changed.
It’s apparent he has turned a corner on his approach now if he can perfect it we might have a closer for a few years!
Would anyone trade Daniel Murphy and a prospect (Not Wheeler or Harvey) for Toronto Catcher J.P. Arencibia. Gives some a righthanded bat with some pop.
S/B–Gives us a righthanded bat with some pop.
Interesting idea. Although his power numbers probably are aided by Toronto’s park a bit
That’s an interesting proposal. I think I’d do it. Arencibia is still untapped and could be our C for a long time and if Murphy gets that deal done, do it.
In concept, without really analyzing the catcher, hell yeah.
Nice trade proposal MetsTheory! I’m on board
Metstheory22 — Catcher J.P. Arencibia has a low batting average (career .216), strikes out about 30% of his PA’s, has a SO/BB ratio of 4.46 (major league average is 2.26), has a CS% of 27% while the league average is 28%.
Wow, let’s make that trade. Not.
Thanks all for the input.
While Parnell does seem “better”, I hope he’s not the second coming of Armando Benitez. Benitez was absolutely un-hittable most of the time. But the greater the pressure, the more likely Benitez was to spit the bit.
Even this year, I still see a hint of that with Parnell. I seriously hope he proves me wrong. We could really use a young, hard-throwing closer.
Yeah. It wasnt too long ago that he let up some runs and blew a game. Has he gotten better? Yes. Is he still a reliable pitcher who i would trust to come in and shut the door of a ballgame? HELL NO