Pitching on consecutive days, reliever Bobby Parnell was hammered in a rehab appearance for the Binghamton Mets on Saturday night.
Parnell was roughed up for five runs on five hits and two walks in just 1/3 of an inning for the B-Mets, who lost to Altoona 13-4.
May 29
Terry Collins told reporters on Friday that Bobby Parnell had his velocity up to 94-95 miles per hour during his last rehab outing and that he is close to returning.
“It was a huge step forward.”
Parnell is expected to pitch for Double-A Binghamton on Friday night.
As for Vic Black, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin says, “he’s not there yet.”
May 26
Two key pieces of the Mets bullpen, Bobby Parnell and Vic Black, are making progress in their rehabilitation processes.
Vic Black pitched the seventh inning for the Binghamton Mets on Monday, only his second appearance since beginning his rehab assignment.
He worked an easy 1-2-3 inning for the B-Mets with one strikeout. According to the stadium radar gun, Black was sitting around 92-94 MPH on his fastball. Black also pitched a scoreless inning of relief on Saturday when he made his first rehab appearance.
“When I got out there, it came together. I was able to throw some strikes, get guys to put it in play and get the (one) strikeout,” Black said in an interview with Lynn Worthy of PressConnects.
Black noted that he hopes to pitch on Tuesday which would be the first time pitching on back-to-back days in a game since last year.
“I’m not worried about my arm,” he said. “It’s healthy. I’m healthy. It’s all about competing now, the repetitions of getting in innings (and) getting in rhythm and some consistency.”
Bobby Parnell also pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Binghamton Mets on Sunday. After striking out the leadoff man, Parnell then surrendered a double but was able to work around it and escape the jam.
“I think every time I’ve gone out, I have improved and learned something from my outings,” Parnell said to Worthy. “Every step has been a good step in the right direction. I feel like every time has been an improvement.”
The big thing with both Black and Parnell, as was pointed out by Ron Darling on Monday, is getting them both back to pitching at their previous velocity. It appears each one is progressing of late.
