Jarrod Parker, the Call of the Year, and Keeping Young Talent

The Highly Talented Jarrod Parker

The Oakland Athletics like their ballplayers like I like my girls – the younger the better.  In the last couple of weeks, The A’s have dealt Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill for a wealth of even younger talent (well in some cases cheaper not younger).  Despite losing two very talented pitchers, Oakland’s fan base who is most likely decreasing in numbers by the day can at least be excited for Jarrod Parker.

Parker, who was the first high school pitcher taken in the 07’ draft is ready to battle for a spot in Oakland’s rotation next year.  Judging by reports and his late call-up with the Diamondbacks last year, there is a ton to like about this 23-year-old right-hander.

The kid made one start in Arizona last year against the Los Angeles Dodgers going 5.2 scoreless innings and surrendering only four hits.  It was difficult to come away from this outing being anything less than  impressed with what Parker did.  I for one was pretty much blown away.

The reports on Parker were all pretty much spot on.  He pounds the strike zone with his mid-90’s fastball.  The delivery looks practically effortless.  He paints the corners and runs pitches in on the hands to both righties and lefties.  The slider is filthy.  The curveball is all right.  The one thing I did not get a chance to read was how sickening his change-up had gotten.  On the night of the start against the Dodgers, the offering was falling off the table while darting way out of the zone.

Jarrod Parker’s Major League debut was a brilliant effort, but it was definitely lost in the shuffle due to how the rest of the game went down.  The D-backs and Dodgers ended up going into extra innings on that late September evening, and with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Ryan Roberts cleared the bases with a walk-off grand-slam to propel Arizona to a 7-6 victory.

Best Work Done Behind the Mic in 2011

I never got to see how MLB’s GIBBY awards panned out.  The GIBBYs, at least how I understood it, was supposed to be something along the lines of the Oscars for baseball.  But in my opinion, I can’t imagine how this game-ending blast is not the penultimate moment of the 2011 season.  I’ve watched the clip of this homer a solid 20 times, and every time I hear Daron Sutton’s call of the play I either flash a cartoon-like smile, or the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Usually, it’s a combination of the two.  One time I watched it I was on the brink of tearing up, and I don’t even really care about the Diamondbacks.

As Roberts golfed the first pitch fastball in the air, it’s almost immediately apparent the ball is going into the seats.  Sutton’s voice builds to a crescendo with a large hint of shock in his voice –

“Ryan Roberts drives it deep to left field…”

Sutton almost sounds like he’s bracing for impact as he says the name “Ryan,” and then as the ball clears the wall, the D-backs announcer, with the exuberance of an 9-year-old opening a Playstation 3 on Christmas morning yells –

“InCrEdIbLe!!!!”

This call on the Grand Slam makes Joe Buck’s call of David Freese’s game-winner in game 6 look like amateur hour.  Just sayin’.

The seven cherries on top occurs when Ryan Roberts, covered in tattoos rounding the bases points to Kirk Gibson in the D-backs’ dugout, and gives the Gibby fist-pump, just like Arizona’s Manager did it after his epic homerun in Los Angeles in the World Series.  I showed my friend Ryan who could care less about baseball this play on my phone the night it happened, and even he thought it was awesome.

Find A Way to Keep Your Players Beyond Arb Year 1

If Oakland can’t keep its best players past year one of Arbitration, the team should probably be sold to someone who can make that happen.  I know what it’s like to be a broke-ass.  My laziness has nothing to do with why I haven’t finished Christmas shopping yet, it’s cause my net worth at the moment is like $87.  But I’m almost done – I’ll finish tomorrow.

Maybe The A’s can take notice of what the Rays just did with their phenomenal young pitcher Matt Moore.  This kid pitched 19 innings and they signed him to a team-friendly extension.  Jarrod Parker may warrant this type of behavior.  It is a risk, but how many young and talented pitchers can you keep giving away before they’re really even that expensive.

Hey everybody.  Have a safe and happy holidays.

Follow Mickey Brignall on twitter @mickey_baseball