Los Angeles Angels Reliever Continues Record Streak, Briefly
By Jason Burke
Los Angeles Angels reliever Blake Parker had quite the streak going in spring training, and it’s because of his feat that he made the opening day roster. On Tuesday night in Oakland, that streak continued for a brief stint.
Blake Parker’s time on the mound in Oakland on Tuesday night ended with the 31-year-old journeyman being charged with the two runs that would tie the game in the 7th. Before that, however, Parker had a most amazing streak from spring action.
Prior to the beginning of the regular season Parker’s last 17 retired batters had all been set down with a strikeout. That doesn’t necessarily mean 17 up, 17 down, but if you’re punching everyone out it has to be fairly close. Over the course of the entire spring Parker tallied 12 1/3 innings pitched, allowed seven hits and two walks and held a 0.73 ERA. He also struck out 24 batters, or nearly 18.0 per nine.
Last night Parker came on in the bottom of the 6th and proceeded to strike out Ryon Healy and Khris Davis, Oakland’s number three and four hitters. The next batter, two-time all star Stephen Vogt, popped out. Just like that Parker’s streak had ended but he had worked a scoreless frame.
Unfortunately for Parker and the Los Angeles Angels, the 4-2 lead that Parker was protecting entering the 7th quickly vanished. Jed Lowrie started off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Before he was lifted, Parker began another strikeout streak by K’ing Trevor Plouffe. He then allowed a single to Yonder Alonso which brought home Lowrie.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Oakland would take a 6-4 lead on a ball that made it to the equivalent of shallow to mid right field, but since Oakland has so much foul territory, the time it took for Danny Espinosa to reach the ball, coupled with the speed of the batter, Rajai Davis, allowed him to make it to third and then advance home on a throwing error. That sequence brought home the final runner that Parker was responsible for.
Parker spent parts of 2012-14 with the Chicago Cubs, totaling 73 1/3 innings in that span. 2015 was a weird season according to the transaction log on his MiLB page, in which he was optioned by the Cubs to Iowa, placed on the disabled list, DFA’d, signed by the Cubs to a minor league deal in May–made no appearances for Iowa–then gets activated in late September. He elected free agency in November and signed with the Seattle Mariners in December.
Next: King Felix Injury Update
In August of 2016 the Mariners DFA’d Parker and he was picked up by the Yankees, only to be claimed off waivers by the Angels in October.
Parker has had an interesting professional journey to this point, but it appears as though he has figured something out in recent weeks. The key to his season, and potentially even the rest of his career, could depend on how he adjusts to the adjustments that hitters will make against him as the video on him piles up.