The New York Mets managed to avoid being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals today thanks in no small part to a strong outing from Jonathon Niese and some much needed offense from Daniel Murphy and David Wright. On the back end of things, where the Mets have rarely found themselves having to secure a lead, stood Bobby Parnell. Parnell’s last save came over two weeks ago when he closed out the Miami Marlins, but the 28-year-old entered the afternoon with a 4-0 record and stellar 1.10 ERA.
When you look atop the National League save leaders you’ll see Jason Grilli with 16, Rafael Soriano with 12 and even the likes of Jim Henderson and Kevin Gregg before you scroll down and see Parnell. That’s because even after coming in tonight and successfully protecting a 3-run lead against the Cardinals, the Mets closer still has just 4 saves on the season, making him one of the better kept secrets around baseball.
Somewhere hidden within that low tally rests the stats that prove just how dominant Parnell has been this season, which marks his first opportunity to be New York’s closer right from opening day.
The earned run average, the WHIP, the K:BB ratio have all stood out for #39 in 2013 and it’s easy to see why his emergence this season transcends his saves total.
Photo by Michael G. Baron
Fans in Queens may finally be starting to feel like they have a ‘lights out’ option at the back of the bullpen and that’s not something Mets fans are used to. When this season is over and the Metsecutives try to found out what went wrong and what can be salvaged as they look to make things right, it would be nice to be able to check off the 9th inning from the ‘to do list’. Bobby Parnell is giving the front office and the fan base every reason to do just that.
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