Reliever Bobby Parnell is headed to the disabled list according to various reports from beat writers.
Parnell is dealing “elbow fatigue” or “arm fatigue” likely as the lingering effects of Tommy John surgery, and it’s not considered a serious issue or setback.
No word yet on whether this had been an ongoing issue or something that just popped up after his disastrous outing on Sunday.
To replace Parnell, Logan Verrett has been called up from Triple-A Las Vegas. The right-hander had a short but impressive stint with the Mets earlier this season.
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After yet another implosion by Bobby Parnell, manager Terry Collins admitted that he’s starting to worry about his veteran reliever.
Parnell took the loss on Sunday after he was tagged for four runs in the seventh inning and was pulled before he could get the third out. The huge crowd at Citi Field booed him unmercifully as he walked back to the dugout.
“We didn’t have Robles, so Bobby was the guy. With the day off, I figured he’s facing the bottom of the order, he throws the sinker over… and then he walks the leadoff guy, and that hurt him. So yeah, I’m a little concerned.”
A botched double play certainly played into what transpired, but Parnell didn’t help himself by walking two batters and allowing two RBI hits by Gregory Polanco and Aramis Ramirez who ripped a pair of meatballs over the middle of the plate.
Over his last 15 relief appearances, Parnell has a 9.26 ERA. Collins seems to think it’s all part of the process of coming back from Tommy John surgery.
“One of the things that we’ve seen is this roller-coaster that these guys coming out of surgery have. One day he’s at 97 and then this week he wasn’t that good.”
I didn’t catch Parnell’s velocity today, but on Thursday and Friday he was maxing out at 91 mph.
Also, I had one of my writers covering the game Sunday and was told that Parnell didn’t stick around to speak to reporters.
Anyway if Parnell isn’t up to speed then he shouldn’t be pitching in any big spots or high leverage situations. You want to throw him some garbage time, I don’t have a problem with that. But until he gets squared away, you can’t use him late in games with everything on the line.
August 15
Bobby Parnell just hasn’t had his best stuff lately, and last night it really cost the Mets who lost 3-2 to the Pirates on Friday night in 10 innings.
Parnell allowed three straight singles to start the 10th, including a go-ahead RBI single to Gregory Polanco that made it 2-1. He was also charged with another earned run that scored on a sac fly after Carlos Torres replaced him
“I really didn’t give up anything hard hit, I don’t think. I probably could have located better and tried to attack them. Things didn’t go my way.”
Parnell left the game to a chorus of boos and jeers from the big crowd at Citi Field when Terry Collins pulled him from the game.
Since July 22 the veteran reliever has posted the following numbers:
- Appearances – 9
- Innings – 6.1
- ERA – 13.28
- Walks – 6
- Strikeouts – 2
- Opp. Avg. – .419
“I’m kind of putting a lot of pressure on myself and trying to be too fine,” Parnell added. “I feel like when I try to get too fine I give up those little weak hits and stuff like that. You live and you learn.”
Parnell is adamant that he’s healthy but there were some concerns raised on Thursday when his fastball was topping out at only 89 mph.
Nelson Figueroa said that last night Parnell had “no life on his fastball” and that his curveball “had no sink or bite to it” resulting in way too many fat pitches right over the plate.
Whatever the case may be right now with Parnell, he needs to quickly find a way to become more effective, especially late in games and in the role Terry Collins is using him.
