The Future.... Is Now?

Ever since the New York Mets traded away star closer Francisco Rodriguez in mid-July, there had been rampant speculation about who would take on the responsibility of being the Mets current closer as well as who would be their closer of the future. It was pretty quickly reported that Jason Isringhausen would be the Mets closer for the rest of the season. Isringhausen was a mere 7 saves away from 300 and the Mets wanted him to reach that mark. As a closer he was solid, converting 7 of 8 save opportunities. Recently, with the Mets falling farther and farther out of the wild card race, the team has decided to give Bobby Parnell a shot at closing.

At just 26 years old, Parnell looks like he's got the skills to be a very good closer. He has a plus fast ball that consistently hits the mid nineties. His complete repertoire also includes a slider which has been vastly improved this year as well as an average change up. Parnell strikes out plenty of batters, 49 in just 39.2 innings this year which is good for an 11.12 K/9, about on par with the top MLB closers.

Parnell's peripheral numbers do leave something to be desired though. A career WHIP of 1.57 needs to be greatly improved in order for him to become a true, shutdown closer. His career FIP (Fielder Independent Pitching) is 3.52 which is pretty good. His xFIP (which is considered a good indicator of future performance) is 3.85. While not great, I'm sure the Mets would be very happy with that from their young closer. In Queens, New York, it appears that the closer of the future has just become the closer of the now.