Bobby Parnell has the arm to be the next Mets closer. But it takes more than an arm. It takes a certain toughness to close major league games.
“He’s got a great arm but he’s a little soft,” an NL talent evaluator said of Parnell before last night’s game between the Mets and Marlins was rained out at Citi Field.
The Mets need to give Parnell the ball and see if he can do the job as closer. They’ve got nothing to lose. This is a season of transition now.
Parnell believes he is growing up and toughening up, and pointed to Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Marlins. After getting Emilio Bonifacio on a groundout, he gave up an infield hit and then, after a passed ball moved the runner into scoring position, Parnell struck out the next two batters.
Along the way in that eighth he hit 99 and 100 mph on the radar gun.
“I think for the first time I was able to put bad outings in the past and really rebound,” Parnell told The Post. “That was the biggest thing. I just went out there and erased all the other stuff and just said to myself, ‘This is what you got, so go out there with confidence.’ And I did, it felt great, mentally and physically.”
Those are words manager Terry Collins has been waiting to hear. He wants Parnell to accept the challenge of late-inning relief. Let it fly. Pedro Beato also shows promise in the bullpen, and, as the year goes on, Collins will be counting on the younger arms.
Parnell, 26, has had some rough times. That’s part of the growing process, but it’s time to grow up. Francisco Rodriguez is gone and Jason Isringhausen has been a warrior but doesn’t have the arm he once had and faltered in his last two outings.
Parnell’s numbers over his previous nine games were terrible entering Tuesday night. In those nine games he pitched eight innings, allowed 13 hits, four walks, hit two batters and seven runs, six earned for a 6.75 ERA.
Opposing batters hit .361 against him over that span with a .452 on-base percentage. Yes, he did strike out nine batters. Parnell gave up a critical home run in Florida. In those nine outings he posted one win, one blown save, three holds and a loss.
“Kind of a roller coaster,” he admitted.
Collins is trying to convince Parnell that the outs he gets in the eighth are as important as the outs registered in the ninth inning.
In too many ways the game has become specialized. Teams have created their own monster by adding the closer tag to relievers. The Mets want Parnell to go out there and just throw the ball with ferocity.
“If we do this right we’ll produce one of the real good closers in our game,” Collins said.
Too often Parnell tries to be too fine, and instead of lighting up the radar gun with incredible numbers, he hits 90-94 mph. Then after he gives up a hit or two, he’s suddenly hitting 97. The Mets want to see 96-97 from the start.
“I don’t have much experience in the eighth and I don’t have much experience in the ninth,” Parnell told me. “So I have to go out there and absorb the pressure and learn from it. Every day is a new experience.
“I’m learning that you just have to forget about it,” he said. “I can’t back down, I have to keep progressing.”
Parnell is the son of a fire chief in Salisbury, N.C., and yesterday, before the rains came, he was on the field helping members of the New York City Fire Department prepare for the upcoming World Police and Fire Games.
“I pretty much grew up in the fire department,” Parnell said with a smile. “It’s always great to be around those guys. I was a volunteer going through high school. It was a great experience.”
Make it his job to put out the ninth-inning fires.