Just Mets

It had been nearly two years since Bobby Parnell recorded a save, the last one coming on July 30, 2013 against the Marlins at Marlins Park.

Since then, Parnell has dealt with a surgically repaired disc in his neck, a 14 month recovery process from Tommy John Surgery, and the potential to reinvent himself as part of a process to return to a big league mound.

In other words, its been 23 months of total uncertainty for the former Met closer.

He returned four days ago and got a taste of what he hopes are many critical big league moments he will succeed in once again in his career. The fastball isn’t what it once was. Two years ago at this time, Parnell was saving games for the Mets with a 100 mph fastball and a devastating knuckle curve he had learned from Jason Isringhausen. But today’s Parnell is different than that one – he is relying on finesse, guile and location until his power arm returns to previous form, if it ever does.

But with the Mets being forced to piece another game together with their fragmented and beaten bullpen, Parnell was suddenly – and perhaps unexpectedly – asked to return to the role he once held on Tuesday night, and that was to put a four alarm fire out started by the ineffective Carlos Torres, the guy who Terry Collins proclaimed to be the team’s closer with Jeurys Familia being unavailable.

But it wasn’t a normal save opportunity for Parnell. He was asked to get five outs, two of which with the tying runs on base with one out in the eighth inning.

“Sometimes to swim, you’ve got to jump in the deep end, right?” Parnell said after Tuesday’s game.

For a guy who has hardly pitched in the last two years and with an arm clearly still in the strengthening process, Collins sat down at the poker table with very few chips and a pair of deuces in his hand.

But for a night, Collins’ bet paid off as Parnell put together perhaps the most inspiring performance of any Met this season.

While Parnell allowed two of his inherited runners to score, he secured the final five outs, the last three with relative ease in the ninth inning to record his first save since that fateful day at Marlins Park nearly two years ago.

“He showed you [Tuesday night], he knows how to pitch,” Collins said about Parnell. “You can’t put him in a bigger situation than what he was in tonight. It’s nice to know we’ve got another weapon down there.”

Once again, Parnell was not overpowering, although he recorded two strikeouts in the ninth inning, both on off-speed pitches down. But he truly saved the Mets, as his effort was enough to preserve Matt Harvey’s brilliant outing, bail out Torres, and make himself feel very good about the journey he was forced to take 23 months ago.

“It felt good. Definitely had some adrenaline going. It was definitely a fun time to pitch. That ninth inning’s always good,” Parnell explained. “I finally had some weight off my shoulders. t was over and I could turn the page.”

Parnell feels he will eventually return to form, which is why he isn’t changing anything despite having to be crafty during his outings.

“I’m trying to be aggressive in the zone,” Parnell explained. “I feel in the end, I’m still going to be the same pitcher I was. I don’t want to change that.”

Whether that happens or not, remains to be seen. But as he showed before being plagued by injury, he has evolved from being a thrower to a pitcher over the last few years, and that growth led to so much success for him as the club’s closer in 2013.

And now, being that pitcher is more important than it’s ever been for the recovering Parnell.