Bobby Parnell is a 6′3″, 180 lbs 23 year old right handed pitcher who the Mets drafted in the 9th round of the 2005 draft. The Mets were most impressed with his sinker and gave him his start with the Brooklyn Cyclones. He dominated the league with a 1.73 ERA in 73 innings pitched.

When Parnell was promoted to Hagerstown, his ERA rose to 4.10, he didn’t fare much better after three starts for the St. Lucie Mets, posting an ERA over 9 in three starts.

Parnell’s next stop was the Hawaiian Winter League, where he compiled a 6.21 ERA in 29 IP.

Last year he showed marked improvement, returning to St. Lucie and posting a 3.25 ERA and struck out 62 batters over 12 starts and 55 innings. He was able to harness his slider until he was sent to Binghamton, when he again lost his consistency. He had a 3.13 ERA in June, a 6.75 ERA in July, and a 3.24 ERA in August, which averaged out to 4.77.

Parnell’s fastball sits in the low 90s and regularly hits 95 late in games. He generates a lot of groundouts with his heavy sinker. His slider sits touches the mid-80s.

He has yet to develop full trust in his changeup and seems to try to pitch around batters rather than try to simply throw and induce groundouts.

Today, in his start against the Marlins, Parnell set down the first six Marlins to face him including Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Josh Willingham and Hanley Ramirez, who struck out looking.

For more about Parnell’s performance today, head over to Mets Blog to read Matthew Cerrone’s comments.

Head to SNY.tv for an interview I did with Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell last week at Tradition Field.