Bobby Parnell made his first major league relief appearance in nearly two seasons on Saturday night, and after the game manager Terry Collins said his former closer looked “rusty.”
“I’m glad he got it out of the way. Hopefully, he got his feet wet and we move forward with it, he gets a little more comfortable and we find a good situation for him to be more consistent in games.”
Parnell escaped a jam in the eighth inning, allowing a single and then an inning-ending ground out. However, his velocity never got above 91-92 mph and that’s a huge concern for someone who averaged 96 mph and could dial it up to 98 mph before the elbow surgery.
“I’ve still got some work to do,” Parnell admitted after the game. “I feel like the strength is there, the health is there, just getting back to my old mechanics is going to be a big step in the right direction.”
While struggling through 14 rehab appearances in which he posted a 11.59 ERA, Parnell was frequently asked about his low velocity.
But he always brushed it off as him mostly just working on his delivery and mechanics while focusing very little on how hard he was throwing. “I’ll be my regular self when the time comes, everything’s fine.”
Obviously everything is not fine, and his 96-98 MPH fastball has yet to surface in these last four months, begging the question, is the once dominating Bobby Parnell just a distant memory now? Is this the new norm for him?
It’s too early to tell if he can still be as effective as he once was with the diminished velocity. It’s also possible that in time he can return to the pitcher he once was.
But with the Mets currently battling for a chance to play in the postseason, the team can ill-afford another bullpen meltdown like we saw during Saturday night’s 5-3 loss to the Braves.
In other words, Parnell needs to get on top of his game quickly because as Sandy Alderson said Friday, we don’t have the luxury for players to be going through a spring training phase right now.
June 13
Closer Jeurys Familia is awaiting the birth of a new child. Once he lands on the paternity list, which could come as early as this weekend, former Mets closer Bobby Parnell could close for a day or two in Familia’s absence.
Parnell recently rejoined the team on Wednesday after missing all of 2014 with Tommy John surgery.
“I think this is an ideal situation to put Bobby in a spot where he’s going to be tested a little bit,” manager Terry Collins told reporters. “He could conceivably close.”
Familia got his 18th save on Friday’s game, despite loading the bases. He got out of it by inducing Nick Markakis to hit into a game-ending double play to give the Mets the 5-3 win over the Braves at Citi Field. He now has 18 saves in 19 chances with a 1.21 ERA.
Parnell had a 11.57 ERA in his rehab outings with 14 walks in 14 innings. His fastball was clocked in the low 90s, which is a significant drop off from his usual velocity in the high 90s. When his 30 day rehab clock expired this week, the Mets had to bring him up to the majors even though he may have been far from ready.
But with Familia soon to land on the paternity list for a few days, the Mets had no other proven ninth inning dependables, so Parnell will immediately get the call if the Mets have a close lead entering the 9th inning.
Before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Parnell was the team’s closer and a fairly reliable one at that, notching 22 saves with a 2.15 ERA in 2013.
