That concern proved legit and it was for that reason that Dillio Gee was called up.

But I’m glad that a year later, it seems to be working out. This time there was no risk other than a minor league contract because Young was not automatically being counted upon as a starter – he was called up to fill a spot in the rotation instead vacated by Pelfrey after rookie call ups couldn’t fill the void.

The only question is fatigue setting in too quickly and suddenly as we saw against the Yankees and his starts before. Last night was a good sign for even though they are in a major batting slump, the Dodgers are still major league hitters and could have teed off on a tiring Young in an instant.

If Young comes back, this is a real bolster to the starting rotation along with Parnell starting to show he might have it as a closer.

LGM

Hi Metsie,

If that’s what it takes, I suggest most of us fly out to Los Angeles for a try-out!

It was said yesterday but it bears repeating…
There is a lot more to being a good pitcher than just throwing the ball hard and having good stuff.

And most guys under the age of 29 don’t get that because all they focus on is the radar gun and thier natural talent.

But as the age comes in and the MPHs start ticking off your radar, you realize you don’t have it and you have to start relying on what is actually mucyh more important than velocity and stuff!

Guys like Dickey (maybe not rhe best example here due to the novelty), Reed, Ojeda and Gee never had that plus fastball to get by with. Never had that youthful abundance of talent that was good enough to allow them to not think about what and where just throw your best stuff and hope for the best.

They learned early (to get to the MLB) that if you locate well, set up the batter change speeds and keep him off balance you can get someone out even with a 85 MPH fastball!

In Dickey’s case he throws a fastball in the mid 80′s. Why does it work?
Because the pitch before it was at 69 MPH!

As pitchers get older and more experienced they learn how to do that.

My problem has always been that the MiL Coaches and scouts have not ever seemed to have learned that lesson the pitchers eventually do!

Plus Fastball = Prospect
Not Plus = Not worth even talking about or considering.

Why don’t they get taught these things in the Minors?
Why is it all about pounding the zone and learning new pitches? I get teaching them control but what good is control if you son’t really know where or how to use that control to your advantage and where to control the ball to go to set yup batters for the pitcvhes you already have?
It baffles my mind that the most important thing for a pitcher to learn is not taught in the Minors and he is left to figure this out on his own later on in life!

Heath Bell didn’t do a lot until he was 29. Then he had five really good years but he seems to be sliding this year. I’d take five good years from Bobby in a heartbeat.

He is not overthrowing the way he did last year, He is also showing better control because of it. He is not trying to throw 105 MPH every pitch and dialed it back to get that control.

And it’s working.

The games where he gave up runs this year were mostly due to bad fielding extending innings which is why his ERA is not sitting on the roof like all the other pen arms are.

And this injury to Francisco may just be the opportunity Parnell needs to become a closer at some point.

It has never been a question about his pitches they are fine, it has always been his confidence and ability to locate that has been his achillies heel in the past.

It is a good bet he will be the closer until the All Star Break and perhaps if he does well and gets a few saves under his belt that might be enough to build on and take the next step.

A good closer needs to be nasty and stubborn but to be that you need the high confidence level almost to the point of arrogance.

If he has some success in his short stint as closer it could just be the stepping stone he needs to get where he should be to be the future closer for this team.

He’s pitching smarter and while I don’t expect him to pitch Francisco out of the role before FF gets back any positive steps taken by Parnell towards being a closer would be a KEY fix for the future.

Cause trading for a closer is the one deal thats going to cost more in kids than you truly get back considering they only pitch one inning a game in a game your already winning.

I think Bobby Parnell can be a ML closer. At times I am reminded of a gunslinger; like Wyatt Earp. His demeanor last night was that of a closer. What he has to do is really work on the new pitch to perfect location and balance with the blazer. His risk is always going to be the long ball, however, if he can throw the right blend of pitches and groove the knuckle/curve learned from Izzy he can get some outs.

Right now I would rather see him close than Francisco. Franky has not been terrible and his save #’s show it. It’s the throat clenching drama that we don’t need. This team puts it all on the field and can withstand only so much drama late in the game never mind heartbreak. We need a 1-2-3 guy and that is seeming more and more like “The Gunslinger”.

Tonight we have our resident knuckle baller and sound philosopher on the hill. He is a great story and probably the only one capable of handling the attention. He is a team guy for sure. I wonder if he threw a knuckler on top of Mt. Everest. He should be asked. Did it knuckle? It is amazing that we have a few SPs right now that can NO DOUBT keep us in games. Who knew?

We feature our Lefty line up tonight v. Harang. Need Duda and K NU to snap out of it.

LGM!!!!!!!!

If he can keep showing this going forward – and he’ll have opportunities with FF on the DL – hopefully they’ll seriously consider Parnell taking over the closer role.

Thing is, as a closer, you’re supposed to be amped up.. But the thing was, he did not look anxious or anything, if he was he hid it very well, and that is what a closer is supposed to be, a guy with confidence as you pointed out in the mound, he’s got to have that “i’ll get you out somehow” mentality.. show no weakness while in the mound so the pressure falls on the hitter to hit your pitch, don’t overthink the situation, just go out there and KNOW you’re better than your opponent.. I LOVED parnell last night, hopefully is a sign of things to come…

He was really dealing in the 9th last night. Some of those fastballs reached 100 mph. Not that it’s probably needed but good to see he’s not one of these pitchers that seems to lose velocity in their late 20s.

Parnell commented after the game that he was a little ‘amped up’.

Congrats to DWright for breaking yet another franchise record.
Just sign him so he can go right on doing that.

The pitched 2 2/3 scoreless with just a couple of hits I think. Bobby P. saves game by setting down enemies 1-2-3 in ninth. I mean, wow!

Just hoping it isn’t a fluke. Good job, pen!