You can’t win without a good defense. That’s what they — yes, THEY — always say.
I guess that’s good for Parker because he gets so defensive.
I merely asked him: “Everyone talks JV’s pitching… What about Verlander, Teheran, Strasburg, Anderson and Nelson (when healthy)?”
Boom, defense.
“You’re forgetting about two other top 40 pitchers in Gio and Castillo,” he answered, referring to starters Gio Gonzalez and Luis Castillo. “I’m really excited to see Castillo for an entire year with the big club, even if it is with the lackluster Reds (it pains me to say that but it’s true)… I foresee six starting pitchers in the top 40 at the end of the year with Verlander and Strasburg leading the way in the top 10!”
You couldn’t just answer the question?
“Verlander is a freak of nature and with Mrs. Justin Verlander keeping him feeling loose and young at heart, he will have another Cy Young year and even vie for AL MVP with Altuve, Correa and Springer!”
Well, at least we got that out of him.
Parker’s pitching, though fragile, is pretty good at the top. I do agree that Verlander will have an out-of-this-world kind of year, and it will be one of those season’s statistically where we stupidly consider him for the MVP — I’m in the belief that if batters can’t win Cy Youngs, pitchers shouldn’t win MVPs. Or, we add a batting award.
If they did, Joey Votto would certainly be a candidate for that. It’s amazing what he did a year ago at age 33, and there’s nothing suggesting that he will fall off in 2018.
“Stanton stole away Joey’s MVP last year,” Parker said. “Don’t get me started on that. Votto is on a Hall of Fame path and there’s only one thing that can stop him, not getting any love since he’s on the Reds. He literally is 11th all-time in OBP and 15th in OPS, all-time! That is just crazy! He’ll have another 30 HR, 100 RBIs, 1.000 OPS season. He’ll be top 3 MVP and should take it home this year since the Reds will be 81-81.”
Parker literally loves Votto. Literally.
He also literally bought into the 3x3x3 pitching format in 2018 with a solid bullpen that may be the reason why he edges out the other contenders for a playoff spot in the American League.
Wade Davis, Brandon Morrow and Hector Neris are all 30-save closers according to projections, and David Robertson, Anthony Swarzak and Kirby Yates will get the chance to grab holds to start the season. That may change as bullpens do throughout the long season.
“Listen, if you are not buying into the 3x3x3 system you’re living in the past,” Parker said. “I was there once, waited for my last four picks before getting the minimum four RP pitchers. This year picks 2 through 5 were all top RPs. It pained me to do that and took every ounce of power to click that button, but I’m happy I did it.
“After doing some research last year there was only 22 percent of the time I had more than 3 SP pitchers going and 13 percent that 4 or more were going on any given day. Okay, so those percentages aren’t totally true, but you get the idea, having 6 RP going almost every day, it’s a no-brainer. That’s nearly 500 Ks just from my RPs.”
Wait. Fake percentages? Literally?
I’m like 20 percent sure that made-up fake percentage stats is a reason to discount everything you say ever.
That’s why I’m curious about Parker's response to whether or not he's worried about the outfield from Grumpier Old Men 3. Ryan Braun, Adam Jones and Jay Bruce — all super productive in their prime, which I’m 83 percent sure they have left — are a bit scary to have as the outfield trio.
“Not one worry on the outfield,” Parker said while biting his nails. “I’ve got some good young players coming up with LF, CF eligibility in Happ and Schwarber. Happ was a first-round pick for me last year and he had a great Rookie year that went under the radar being on the Cubs — 24 HR, 68 RBI in only 364 at-bats, not too shabby. Schwarber has so much potential and with him shedding some pounds, that should keep him in the lineup on a daily basis. Right field was one of my few positions going into the draft where I only had one player eligible, and I knew I had to get a backup and was able to get Souza at a great value. There were so many bats in the draft this year I knew I could wait.”
Souza? I’m literally 100 percent sure you dropped him — for good reasons, of course — two days after this quote.
And he’s replaced by Reds RF Scott Schebler?
That’s a fine pick-up, honestly, but I do believe it makes the Gameday Gamblers comprised of 43 percent Reds/ex-Reds.
OK, so I was off a little. I made that up.
But, finally a percentage you can be sure of, the answer is 26.3 percent. That’s like literally one-quarter of his team.
You know when you reach Crox-to-Sox ratios, you’re in trouble.
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