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What If Bobby Parnell Had Been Healthy for New York Mets in 2014?

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By @BZarp

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

With the New York Mets enduring their sixth-consecutive losing season in 2014, it’s only natural for fans to wonder what could have been if one or two things had been different. For the 2014 season, most “what if” scenarios involving the Mets will revolve around ace Matt Harvey. But what if the other Mets’ pitcher that had a lost season due to Tommy John surgery had stayed healthy? What if the Mets had a healthy Bobby Parnell in 2014?

Parnell’s health heading into the season was up in the air after offseason neck injury, but what ended his season after just one appearance, a blown save on opening day, was the need for Tommy John surgery. As a result, Parnell was unable to build off of his 2013 season, which was the best of his career. In 2013, Parnell finally asserted himself as the Mets’ closer, recording 22 saves in 26 chances with an ERA of 2.16 and a WHIP of 1.00. Had Parnell been healthy in 2014, there would have been every chance for him to repeat or exceed his performance from 2013.

However, one of the things that proved most costly for the Mets in 2014 is how the bullpen performed for the first two months of the season after Parnell went down. Without him, the Mets had to resort to using over-the-hill veterans like Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde, which did not work out at all. Both Farnsworth and Valverde were a significant step down in quality from what a healthy Parnell would have provided late in games. The Mets were a pitiful 1-10 in games decided by one run in the month of May, and having Parnell could have made a meaningful difference and turned several of those losses into wins, helping the Mets remain in contention deeper into the season.

Of course, the Mets did eventually get their act together in the bullpen, with Jenrry Mejia moving from the rotation to the closer’s role, Jeurys Familia taking on a more prominent role and Vic Black becoming a reliable option after a disastrous spring and continued control problems early in the season in triple-A.

Would all of that have happened the same with Parnell in the closer’s role? Perhaps not. Mejia would not have been given the closer’s job, a role he’s well suited to fill. But Mejia would have had a prominent role in the bullpen and he still would have been more effective in shorter outings, and he would have occasionally been given opportunities to close. Moreover, Familia is too talented not to eventually have been given an opportunity to pitch in pressure situations, while Black would have returned to the big leagues at some point this season, even if Parnell had been healthy and given the Mets a deeper bullpen.

With a healthy Parnell and the eventual emergence of Mejia, Familia and Black, the Mets would have had a deep bullpen the second half of the season. With an experienced closer like Parnell and quality depth, the Mets would not have needed to overwork Familia and Carlos Torres, who both made more than 70 appearances this season. Also, it would have been easier for the Mets to survive down the stretch with Mejia fighting a hernia injury and Black making just two appearances the final five weeks of the season.

At the end of the day, how many more games would the Mets have won with a healthy Parnell in 2014? At least a few, especially early in the season when the back end of the bullpen was terrible, as a healthy Parnell would have given the Mets a strong bullpen all season. Would it have been enough to make up the nine games that separated the Mets from a wild card spot? Probably not, but a few more wins would have given the Mets a winning record in 2014, and that would have made a huge difference for the team psychologically heading into 2015; and in that sense, a healthy Parnell would have made a meaningful difference in 2014.

Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com.  Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.

Related links:

10 Things That Cost the New York Mets in 2014

5 New York Mets Who Must Be Better in 2015

Mets Bullpen: Who Should Stay in 2015

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