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| Photo Credit to NY Times |
There have been conflicting reports on whether or not the hard throwing righty will be getting the closers job back right away, if at all. Before we talk about that though, let's talk about Parnell's success before the injury.
Since Parnell got moved to the bullpen full time in 2010, he was a solid option. However, things started to click for him in 2011, where he started to cut down on allowing hits, home runs and walks. In fact, with 2012 and 2013 combined, he had a 2.32 ERA, 2.66 FIP, 2.4 BB/9, and an average of 59.1 innings pitched.
However, as much as Parnell had been able to suppress hard contact, his strikeout rate has proven to be suspect. With the exception of a 9.7 K/9 in 2011(which is more of an outlier), Parnell since 2010 has an average K/9 of 8.10 (21.8 K%). This seems to be perfectly respectable until you see that over 100 relievers have had a better mark than Parnell.
The strikeout rate seems to be very concerning because relief pitchers are supposed to be able to strike batters out at a high rate (more strikeouts mean less base runners the reliever has a chance to allow and in the late innings, every baserunner counts).
I still have a feeling though that Parnell will come back and still be a good bullpen option. This is due to as I mentioned before, his ability to prevent solid contact. This is evidenced by his BABIP of .283, a ground ball rate of 56.6% and a HR/9 of 0.35 in 2012 to 2013.
Perhaps his 2013 numbers came off a little fluky, but with with the fact that only ten other relievers have had a better groundball to flyball ratio than him, perhaps they weren't too far off. His skill interactive ERA (which takes into account a pitchers ability to limit hard contact) sat at 2.88, which was good for 24th best among relievers in that 2 year span.
So now with all of the information presented, it's time to take a swing at where Parnell can fit in with what seems to be a lot of other hard throwing righties. Well, I think that Parnell has a very good shot of not only winning the closer role upon returning, but running with it. However, even if he doesn't, he should still figure to be a major contributor to what could end up being one of the best bullpens in the National League.
However, as much as Parnell had been able to suppress hard contact, his strikeout rate has proven to be suspect. With the exception of a 9.7 K/9 in 2011(which is more of an outlier), Parnell since 2010 has an average K/9 of 8.10 (21.8 K%). This seems to be perfectly respectable until you see that over 100 relievers have had a better mark than Parnell.
The strikeout rate seems to be very concerning because relief pitchers are supposed to be able to strike batters out at a high rate (more strikeouts mean less base runners the reliever has a chance to allow and in the late innings, every baserunner counts).
I still have a feeling though that Parnell will come back and still be a good bullpen option. This is due to as I mentioned before, his ability to prevent solid contact. This is evidenced by his BABIP of .283, a ground ball rate of 56.6% and a HR/9 of 0.35 in 2012 to 2013.
Perhaps his 2013 numbers came off a little fluky, but with with the fact that only ten other relievers have had a better groundball to flyball ratio than him, perhaps they weren't too far off. His skill interactive ERA (which takes into account a pitchers ability to limit hard contact) sat at 2.88, which was good for 24th best among relievers in that 2 year span.
So now with all of the information presented, it's time to take a swing at where Parnell can fit in with what seems to be a lot of other hard throwing righties. Well, I think that Parnell has a very good shot of not only winning the closer role upon returning, but running with it. However, even if he doesn't, he should still figure to be a major contributor to what could end up being one of the best bullpens in the National League.
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