Somehow, when Ryan Braun asked Doug Melvin to go out and get more pitching, I don't think he had Manny Parra in mind. Despite that, it appears that the 26-year-old left-hander will be back in the Milwaukee rotation as early as Thursday after a four-start stint in the minor leagues. It's not really that Parra deserves the promotion, so much as the Brewers desperately need the pitching help. He put up a nice 2.92 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with Triple-A Nashville, but those numbers don't tell the full story. In his 24 2/3 innings he struck out 19 and walked 13, not what the Brewers wanted to see from a guy that's walked 41 batters in 64 2/3 big league innings this year.
Before the season started, I repeatedly told people not to sleep on the Brewers just because they lost their two best pitchers to free agency. Their place just a game behind the Cardinals entering Tuesday's action (though that would jump to two games if the Cards' current lead holds up) would seem to validate me, but I really thought Parra would be one of the reasons they'd contend this year.
Instead, Parra's been the weakest link in a staff that's been made up of Yovani Gallardo and four weak links all season. Parra's minor-league numbers don't suggest much of a turnaround coming, either. At this point, Braun was probably right; the Brewers need to go out and find a pitcher if they're planning on staying in contention much longer.
