JARROD PARKER, SP ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
11/24/1988
6-1 and 180lbs
Bats- R Throws- R
Drafted – 1st Rd 2007 – HS
Bonus – $2.1 million
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Taking a quick look at Parker’s raw number you can see that he has the numbers to back up the hype but its the peripherals that really tell the story of what type of pitching prospect Jarrod Parker can really be. So on that note let’s take a look at the other numbers.
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You can see that a solid K per 9 jumped a bit in 2009 in High A and held solid with the move to AA showing that Parker was maturing as a pitcher. It’s believed that the jump in BB/9 was a byproduct of the elbow injury coming to light after the jump to AA. High K rate and an excellent GB% are signals of a pitcher who could be very dominant low in the zone if they have the goods in the pitch selection and velocity. Parker has both. But he needs to prove healthy and then prove he can stay healthy.
While many are dropping Parker down a few notches based on his injury, we don’t fear that Parker had Tommy John surgery in 2009. Tommy John surgery has never been a reason in my opinion to downgrade a elite pitching prospect and you won’t see that reasoning change today. With Parker’s size it might be difficult for some to project an ace, but he has easy mid 90s heat and is young enough to tack on a little more as he adds some additional lower body weight. He owns three potential above average to plus pitches to go along with his plus fastball. He knows that he has the stuff to dominate and acts like it when he’s on the mound. He has all the makings of an ace and only needs to mature as a pitcher to take that step. The Tommy John surgery may hold up his debut a year but it may also advance his experience ten fold before he ever steps on the mound in Arizona. Adversity at a young age and the fact that he’ll need to re-learn how to pitch without his best stuff will be positive for his growth. Once his mid 90s fastball returns and then his command follows he’ll be ready. For now we’ll take a look at what probably led to the elbow injury and breakdown Parker’s delivery. Then we wait until he’s back on the mound.
TEMPO – 55
Parker has a relatively smooth delivery and even tempo except at the top of his delivery. He pauses a bit at the top, gathering, before he goes toward the plate. This can work to great effect, of course (e.g. Dan Haren), but it is not what you want to see, generally.
WEIGHT TRANSFER – 20
This is where it gets ugly. Have you ever wondered why Jarrod Parker walks so many hitters? Or why he needed Tommy John surgery? Look no further than the second half of his delivery. The first thing you notice is that Parker’s hips fly open way too early. This is a good indicator of struggling with command. Next, he barely plants his foot before bringing his throwing arm through. He takes his legs out of the equation completely and throws essentially with nothing but his arm. There is your TJ surgery. The front side hip should drive you forward, then the leg plants, bringing your back side hip through. The back side hip should bring the pitching arm with it. This should all be one smooth motion. Instead, Parker treats it as a checklist, one task after the other, with nothing connecting any of them.
ARM ACTION – 70
Amazingly, Parker has great arm action. He brings his hand down, but does it take it behind his body laterally. He gets it up on time and comes over the top nicely. Unfortunately, because it is not connected at all with his legs, he is destroying his arm with every pitch he throws. This just goes to show how improving Parker’s mechanics could turn him into an elite pitcher. Adding proper weight transfer to his already great arm action would make for quite the delivery.
FOLLOW THROUGH – 50
Parker’s follow through is decent. I would like to see him bring his glove arm through better. He also slightly jerks his arm back at the end of an otherwise good pitching arm follow through.
CONCLUSION
Most of the problems with Parker’s mechanics make me think that laziness is the main problem. He just has a blasé, lazy feel to his entire delivery. I wonder if it is because he has always been better than his competition and has not felt the need to get past throwing with just his arm and his other mechanical drawbacks. Of course, his situation may be similar to that of Yankees 2B Robinson Cano, who oftentimes looks lackadaisical, but is actually just smooth with all his motions. In that case, Parker just needs a remedial course in pitching mechanics. He will have to get this problem fixed to gain the command necessary to succeed at the Major League level and to stay healthy.
The corrections should come easy during his recovery and his command should take a leap forward before his debut sometime in 2011.
OUR INSTINCT
As we mentioned earlier, we don;t see the injury and recovery time a detriment for Parker. In fact we think its going to make him a better pitcher in the long run. He’s already on his way back. If he can log some innings this year to begin working on the command of his pitches we could very well see him at the back of the DBacks rotation some time in 2011. He won’t come full circle from injury to ace type until 2012 at the earliest. But make no mistake that there is a very talented pitcher being overlooked here. He will be back to full strength at some point. When that happens the desert is going to have another talented righty to watch every fifth day.
