Bobby Parnell can only view the last 14 months as a break that will ultimately leave him fresher, physically and mentally.
Taking that perspective keeps the Mets right-hander from losing his sanity.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Parnell, who just finished three days of workouts with his teammates in Miami. “But I’ve always said it’s hard to get to the big leagues and even harder to stay, so there’s always going to be something that is thrown in your way and some adversity there. And that’s all this is, some adversity.”
The adversity began in July 2013, when Parnell, who turns 30 on Monday, had neck soreness. The diagnosis was a herniated disk, and Parnell ultimately needed surgery that ended his season.
But the knockout blow came in April, after Parnell was roughed up in the Mets’ season opener – an MRI exam discovered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right elbow, necessitating Tommy John surgery.
But the Mets, who have rebuilt their bullpen in Parnell’s absence, are salivating over the idea they could have a four-way competition at closer next season.
Parnell, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black and the incumbent Jenrry Mejia all may have a shot at the closer’s role.
“I don’t think you can go to spring training with one guy, saying, ‘This is going to be our closer,’ ” manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to say, ‘Here it is, boys, who wants it?’ ”
Parnell, after a steep learning curve, had finally taken a big step and solidified the closer’s role in 2013 – he was 5-5 with a 2.16 ERA and 22 saves in 26 chances – before incurring the herniated disk. But Parnell realizes there are no guarantees he will get his old job back.
“I’ll be coming back to a strong bullpen,” he said. “This is going to be a strong bullpen, and I’m kind of excited about that.”
Maybe the biggest question concerns whether the Mets will get the Parnell who used to routinely flirt with triple digits on the radar gun. Is it possible the injuries have made Parnell’s fastball mortal?
“I’m thinking the opposite,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said. “Because we started to see his velocity dip [in spring training]. I think you are going to see more power arm again.”
Parnell made a strong impression on Collins by spending the last three games in the bullpen with the other relievers after working out at Marlins Park.
“He spent all the game sitting there,” Collins said. “Just like in spring training, we told him he was the closer and he said, ‘I don’t want to pitch the fifth inning of those exhibition games. I want to be around – I’ll be there the whole game and I’ll pitch the ninth. I’m going to learn how to do it.’
“Now he’s down [in Miami] and where is he, he’s down in the bullpen with all those young kids. Pretty stinking cool.”
Parnell is doing the best he can to cope with the fact it will be at least another six months before he’s in a competitive situation again.
“It’s just a mental grind,” he said. “It’s tough being away from the competitive side of baseball, but I try to look at the positives – a physical break and somewhat of a mental break. I feel like the path of a Tommy John rehab is a lot more known than a neck rehab, so I feel like it was laid out very well and we’re going in the right direction.”