Frank Francisco (Larry Marano)
SORE SUBJECT: With last year’s closer Frank Francisco (inset) sidelined because of a sore right elbow, manager Terry Collins says Bobby Parnell is preparing to be the Mets’ ninth-inning pitcher. (Anthony J. Causi; Larry Mariano)
PORT ST. LUCIE — For openers, the Mets will prepare a potential new closer.
When the team’s pitchers and catchers take the field today for their first official workout of spring training, Bobby Parnell should have the mindset he’s the Mets closer, manager Terry Collins said yesterday, as Frank Francisco nurses a sore right elbow.
“I’m not panicking, but you’ve got to get somebody ready, and Bobby to me is that guy,” Collins told The Post. “I’m not going to spring it on a guy on March 30.”
Francisco, who underwent surgery in December to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, had been playing catch before the start of camp, but recently stopped after incurring swelling in the joint.
When asked when he thought he would be 100 percent, Francisco said he’s currently “at zero level.”
Brandon Lyon also has major league experience at closer, but Collins is more comfortable using the veteran righty in the eighth inning. Parnell had a respectable stint at closer for the Mets last season when Francisco was on the disabled list with a strained oblique for five weeks. A year earlier, Parnell auditioned for the role over the final two months of the season and struggled.
“I think [Parnell] is the future,” Collins said. “We keep talking about 2014, [expletive], why not get a head start?”
Parnell’s statistics for last season included a 5-4 record with a 2.49 ERA and seven saves in 74 appearances. The 28-year-old righty features a 100 mph fastball, but has struggled to get consistent results during his four seasons with the team.
Last week Collins told The Post that Francisco would remain the team’s closer, even after a disastrous 2012 season by the veteran right-hander. But the recent addition of Lyon and yesterday’s decision to start priming Parnell for closer indicate anything could happen between now and Opening Day.
“The boss is going to make the decision, and whatever they decide, I’m going to be OK with that,” Francisco said. “The only thing I can do is get people out and help the team to win. I don’t care about anything else.”
The 33-year-old Francisco, who will earn $6.5 million this season, arrived in camp last year with a sore knee that curtailed his spring workouts. He finished 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA with 23 saves in 48 appearances.
If Parnell or Francisco aren’t the answer, Lyon could eventually get a shot at the job.
“I’m not competing against a teammate, I’m here to make the team better,” Lyon said. “Obviously people are pushing each other to be better. I’ve never really been in a competition. I can’t control any of that.”