Bobby Parnell’s Pitch Count
Excuse me for the late notice … I haven’t been paying attention the way I should.
So it just registered with me that Bobby Parnell “will be limited to 60-70 pitches during his outing” — at least, that’s what’s being reported on MetsBlog (and I’m sure it is correct information).
Great. Except, one thing: Bobby Parnell has NOT THROWN MORE THAN 33 PITCHES in any one outing all season.
Is anyone else seeing the problem I’m seeing? Am I nuts, or is it a little crazy to suddenly double his highest pitch count of the season? To come up with a “limit” that is FIVE TIMES HIS AVERAGE PITCH COUNT per outing this year?
Yes, folks, five times. Parnell has tossed a total of 817 pitches in 54 games. We know my math stinks so I used a calculator — but you can double-check in case my fat fingers affected the result.
As for “stretching him out”, go to the stats and check the game logs. Parnell threw 30 pitches on August 5th; 33 on August 3rd; 21 on August 1st; and 34 on July 30th (he pitched in both ends of a doubleheader). So, roughly 30 pitches every other day, then all of a sudden — WHAM! — his limit is 70.
May I add that Parnell seemed slightly surprised that he was getting a start when originally speaking to reporters the other day — so I’m guessing he wasn’t augmenting his in-game counts with extra side sessions. Though, he could be a really good actor.
Again, I must bring up the painstaking care and attention the Yankees paid to their young fireballer Joba Chamberlain, during his transition to the starting rotation. Either the Yankees were being unbelievably cautious, or the Mets are being incredibly irresponsible. No one can say for sure, but one look at the way the Mets have handled the physical condition of their players over the last few seasons is enough to make me skeptical.
