John Parrish

G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO W L H S/SO WHIP ERA
16 1 0 22.0 22 17 15 5 17 1 20 1 2 2 0/0 1.77 6.14

John Parrish was one of the young hopefuls on whom the Orioles were pinning their hopes for the 2001 season. His late-season collapse in 2000 was attributed to the number of innings the then-22 year old had tossed for Rochester and the Orioles. The school of thought was that his control problems were a result of fatigue.

Imagine everyone’s surprise when Parrish arrived at Spring Training 2001 only to walk even more batters than he had at the end of August the year prior. Parrish ended up back in the minors, and finally returned to the Orioles in early June.

Unfortunately, this is not a Horatio Alger story. Parrish was just as wild in his 2001 stint as he had been in 2000. It doesn’t do any good to have a good curve ball if you can’t control your pitches. 17 walks in only 22 innings with only 13 strikeouts just isn’t going oit get it done, and it didn’t.

Parrish wasn’t especially hittable; he held the opposition to an overall .266 average. But his OBP was a whopping .396, and he allowed a slugging percentage of .512.

He really doesn’t have a role on the 2002 Orioles unless he can harness his pitches and stop grooving pitches for home runs. If he’s on the staff and hasn’t improved, then the bullpen is in deep trouble again.

The good news is, he’s still young. The bad news is, that’s a full season a half with a major control/effectiveness problem.

To Be Successful with the Orioles on 2002, Parrish must:

  1. Get control of those pitches. His mechanics are a mess.

  2. Stop grooving HR pitches. He’s given up 11 HR in 58 ML innings.

Notes: In Parrish’ first 15 pitches per appearance, he allowed a slugging percentage of .710, giving up 3 HRs to the first batter he faced over his 16 appearances.