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inGame: Bobby Parnell is Impressive
By Matthew Cerrone - Mar 26, 2008 1:36 pm

so far, Bobby Parnell has set down the first six Marlins to face him, including Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Josh Willingham and Hanley Ramirez, who struck out looking on an outside fastball…

…the kid has a live arm, the ball just slings from his wrist and tails in to right-handed hitters with ease…for instance, i would guess that he’s throwing in the mid-90s, based on the zip and swings of the hitters, yet he’s only reaching 92 at best…

…in the third, jacobs hit a hanging curve to left for a pop out, while the other two batters gave his fastball quite a ride…he needs to locate the fastball better, and utilize its natural movement…

…that said, he has a legit arm, and, like Jon Niese, works quick and is aggressive…

…he and niese are two solid young pitchers, who we should be excited about…they may never be great, who knows, but to say the Mets have no young minor-league talent is clearly false

14 Responses to “inGame: Bobby Parnell is Impressive”

  1. bennyagbayani says:

    I can’t wait to see this kid after a couple of years of seasoning. Lots of Pop ups which makes me nervous, but a real nice motion and I love how he moves quick and steams ahead.

  2. metsin080910 says:

    Throwing error to fist, should be out of the inning.

  3. metsin080910 says:

    He also showed a nice pick-off move to second.

  4. metsin080910 says:

    Nice breaking ball strikes out Uggla to end the inning.

  5. bennyagbayani says:

    What a nice bunt by Chavez

  6. Nate W. says:

    word on Parnell is that he tops out at 97 in short spurts, but he can also sit at 93-94 all game.

    If the Mets pen falls apart he could be a Joba like contributor later in the year. Or he might be the 5th starter if they really need to go down the depth charts.

  7. FBones24 says:

    On another note, not sure if anyone brought this up yesterday, but Gomez is the starting centerfielder for the Twins:

    “Span, the Twins’ first-round pick in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, appeared to be the more consistent of the two players this spring. He had a .282 batting average, along with a .404 on-base percentage, and he looked to fit the more typical prototype of a leadoff hitter.

    Yet it was the raw talent of Gomez, who hit .278 while recording 10 stolen bases and six RBIs in 16 games this spring, who seemed to sway Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and his staff.”

    • gameball says:

      Gomez was the only ML-ready player the Twins got in The Trade–there was probably some PR in the decision to go with him as a starter.

      I like Gomez, and I hope he works out for them.

      • gameball says:

        (unless you consider Humber ‘ML-ready’)

      • FBones24 says:

        I was thinking the same thing. It had to help Gomez’s chances that he was traded for Santana. Twins were almost obligated to have one of these guys starting this season.

  8. gowrightgo says:

    Nice to see Parnell has some game. I actually cant see anything just reading along with all of you. But maybe the system is not so barren afterall.

    • Nate W. says:

      yea the only thing to really take out of these last two days starters is that if the Mets have to reach down to the 9th or 10th starting pitcher that Niese and Parnell will at least be respectable options. They arent as baren in the depth as some would lead you to believe.

  9. pekkle says:

    just a reminder, but:
    1) these are the marlins
    2) it’s spring training
    3) none of these hitters have probably ever seen parnell before, so he has the clear advantage
    that said, at least he’s not getting destroyed out there. that’s a positive.

    • dsgtrane says:

      “these are the marlins”

      The Marlins actually have a pretty good hitting team. Their problems last year related to pitching and defense.