By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
NEW YORK ó For better or worse, for richer or poorer, Bobby Parnell has made the proper sacrifices.
Rough patches in the five-year relationship are an afterthought, and he finds himself in the midst of a healthy marriage.
Parnell, an East Rowan High School alum who focused on pitching once he arrived at Charleston Southern in 2003, is now a member of the New York Mets. They hung on to claim a 13-10 win against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night at Shea Stadium, and Parnell again watched the action from the Mets’ bullpen.
Parnell rarely pitched for East or the Rowan County American Legion team, and he struggled on the mound in his last two collegiate seasons. The Mets liked his potential and 6-foot-4 frame enough to select him in the ninth round of the 2005 draft, and he’s ascended to the role of major league reliever.
“The more exposure, the more volume, the more pitches they throw, the more comfortable they get with the mound,” Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said outside the team’s dugout Wednesday. “Once you get married to the mound, as we call it, then we feel you’re ready to go as a major league pitcher.
“There’s absolutely nothing short on his stuff. His fastball-slider combination is as good as anybody’s around. We have a great deal of confidence in his future.”
Parnell excelled as a corner infielder before establishing himself as a flame-throwing hurler.
Whether he settles in as a long-term starter or reliever remains to be seen, although Warthen said he thinks Parnell is better suited for the bullpen.
Warthen, who moved into his current post when manager Willie Randolph and pitching coach Rick Peterson were among those fired in mid-June, pitched for Montreal, Philadelphia and Houston in the 1970s.
“This is going to be up to individual feelings, and my feeling is I think he’s going to be a really good reliever some day,” Warthen said. “I think he’s going to be a seventh (inning), eighth, maybe even a closer with the kind of stuff he has. There’s going to be other people who are going to argue with me and say he’s a No. 4 or 5 starter. That will all work itself out.”
Parnell made 94 appearances with five teams in four minor league seasons, and he entered in relief only twice. The second instance occurred Aug. 29, two days before he was scheduled to start for Triple-A New Orleans. The threat of Hurricane Gustav forced the club to end its season prematurely.
The Mets promoted Parnell, earlier a candidate to make a spot start for the team, on Sept. 1. He has developed a changeup to go with an effective fastball and slider, but relievers rarely need more than two pitches.
“I’m up here, and that’s all that matters to me right now,” Parnell said. “I know my role now is as a reliever, and I’ll embrace it and go with it.
“I don’t know what the future holds; I could go either way. I’d like to be a starter and have the pressure on me a little bit, but I don’t mind being in the bullpen. It could be fun doing that.”
Parnell is along for the ride as part of a team that holds a 31/2-game lead over Philadelphia in the National League East standings.
Seventeen games remain on the Mets’ regular-season schedule, and Parnell has at least the rest of the month to savor some of the perks that accompany MLB service time.
“Talking to my dad about it, you feel honored to come up here with the New York Mets at a place like this and be in a pennant race in such a tight situation,” Parnell said. “It makes me feel good about myself and what I’ve done in the past.”