The Hall of Brewers We Won’t Miss: Nominee #2

Nominee #1

Manny Parra is throwing a ball that may or may not be a souvenir in 3…2…1… PHOTO: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Benjamin Orr is not only on his way to becoming the next big thing in Ohio journalism, he is also our sites fearless leader (Editor).  Since being added to the RtB writing staff, Ben has gone from staff writer to Editor in a fairly short time.  Not only is Ben a student of journalism at Youngstown State, he also looks terrific wearing his Penguin pride (that is not a joke, his college’s mascot is a ridiculously cute little penguin named Pete…look it up).  This is Ben’s 2^nd time as an official inductor (if that is a word) for the Hall of Brewers We Won’t  Miss. 

Inductee #2:

Manny Parra

"“I’m sorry, but he just flat-out sucked during his tenure with Milwaukee. His first year (2007), sure he had an ERA of 3.76 (the lowest of his career until this season) but that was only in NINE games. Imagine how much it would’ve ballooned in more, much like the rest of his years with the Brewers. He couldn’t pitch relief, he barely could spot start and had 17, yes ladies and gentlemen, 17 wild pitches in 2008. How does that even happen? Regardless, Parra was a disaster every year with the team and now he’s the Cincinnati Reds’ problem. He’s doing okay there, but man, I do NOT miss him.”"

Manny Parra is a left-handed pitcher, who was selected by the Brewers in the 26^th round of the 2001 draft.  After 6 years of staying afloat in the minor league system, Parra made his Brewers debut on July 20^th of 2007.  He only appeared in 9 games, but was able to parley his 3.76 ERA into a spot in the starting rotation for 2008. 

Parra did feature an above average split-finger fastball, which also lead to him leading the major leagues in Wild Pitches (17) during his first full season as a starter.  However he was able to do it, he was 10-8 that season.  The Brewers went on to win the Wild Card and appear in the playoffs for the first time since 1982.  Parra was delegated to the bullpen for the NLDS series against the Phillies.  Manny threw 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball.  This was to be the high point of Manny Parra’s career.

The 2009 season saw his ERA sky-rocket up to a 6.36!!  This was high enough to make Jeff Suppan blush.  He only averaged 5 innings per outing, as he racked up an 11-11 record.  It was pretty bad.

In 2010 you could see the wheels starting to come off of his pro career.  A 3-10 record, paired with a 5.02 ERA and 14 more wild pitches…spells disaster.  From 2008 to 2010, his innings pitched decreased by almost 20 every season, which translates to shorter and shorter outings.  This is never a good thing for a starting pitcher.

His elbow had been bothering him for some time and in 2011 it made his life miserable.  He had multiple doctors’ look at it, in hopes that one of them would recommend Tommy John surgery (who has 2^nd opinions in hopes of HAVING TJ surgery?).  Instead he had surgery to replace a screw he had inserted for stability back when he was a young pitcher in Junior College.  That kept him out for the entire season. 

Even without seeing him throw a single pitch in 2011, the Brewers bought him back for one more go round.  It wound up being as bad as advertised.  Manny did not start a single game, working strictly out of the bullpen.  His 2-3 record and 5.06 ERA are deceiving.  While I do not put much stock into WAR, in this case it is pretty telling.  Manny Parra had a -0.9 WAR in his final Brewers season.  Which did not compare to his -2.3 WAR of 2009, but out of the bullpen…it was pretty bad.

Luckily the nightmare ended this past spring, when the Reds signed him to come and throw wild pitches for them.  Enjoy Cincinnati!

There are 3 categories that define a true HOBWWM nominee.  Here is how Manny Parra shapes up:

Stats –  Pretty awful (which in this case is a good thing): 26-33, 4.99 ERA, 74 starts, 513 IP, 582 hits, 292 ER’s, 42 wild pitches, and 0 complete games.

Money/Contract–  Got paid what he was worth: Averaged $614,500 a season over the course of 5 years. 

Likeability –  Super nice guy: In real life, guys like Parra are hard to come by.  He was quiet, pleasant, and always good to the fans.  As for how this bodes for his chances of getting into the Hall…?  Nice guys finish last.  But something tells me that Parra was too nice of a guy to get in this time around.  Try to find a negative story about him?  I dare you!  Unless you count the time he wanted to have Tommy John surgery…that was odd.

Now it is up to you.  When it comes time to cast your vote…is Manny Parra a player you Won’t Miss for all of eternity?  Or is he just that guy who was not much better than Jeff Suppan and never had anything bad to say about anyone…ever?