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| source: twinkietown |
2011 stats: .287/.366/.436 with 13 HRs for New Britain.
Last Year's Rank: #18
Acquired: Drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (20th overall) out of Chino Hills, CA High School in 2006.
Parmelee was fast-tracked to the majors last season due to injuries to Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. He had a really nice performance in his late season call-up in 2011. His .355/.443/.592 made educated fans and bloggers hopeful that Parmelee was ready to contribute in 2012, but it created some unrealistic expectations of his ability as well.
Friend of the blog "Twins Fan From Afar" tried to temper fans expectations yesterday while also indicating that Parmeless should be fine as a pro. What he did point out is some of the hyperbole surrounding Parmelee since his breakout last season and his hot start this spring. He pointed out the most glaring example of Parmelee hyperbole, this ridiculous post from Tom Powers from the Pioneer Press. Powers was very enamored with his September and the fact that Parmelee hits the ball a long way that he stopped short of calling him the next coming. I wonder if Tom bothered to look at Parmelee's entire resume.
Parmelee had a .287/.366/.436 line as a 23 year old in AA in 2011. Nice numbers, but not star numbers. In fact, he's only broken a .900 in OPS once. With a .273/.369/.532 in 179 plate appearances in rookie ball. Parmelee has always been a decent prospect, but never a guy who made prospect rankings. I don't mean to bad mouth Parmelee. He is my #10 prospect but an .802 OPS in AA as a slow-footed corner is not the makings of a future star.
What Parmelee is, is a solid pro prospect. He's the kind of guy that could eventually top out at an .850-.900 OPS with around 20 HRs. He also plays decent defense at first base. He's a left-handed hitter with some power, some on-base skills who doesn't strike out a ton. If he can maximize his skill-set he will be pretty valuable in the seasons ahead.
Ideal scenario: Parmelee is going to make the team and start the season at 1B with Justin Morneau as DH. The ideal scenario is that Morneau can actually start playing 1B sooner than later and make Parmelee a bench bat and part time 1B/DH/OF. If he plays every day, hopefully he can hit .250/.350/.450 or so and provide decent defense.
Path to the majors: He's made it. He has never played a single game in AAA and unless he struggles mightily, he won't this season. Hopefully for him, and the Twins, he can hit enough at a corner to help them, since he will most likely be there for awhile.
check out the rest of the top 50 starting here.
Great post, and thanks for the shout out!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree -- hopefully Morneau can return to playing first sometime this season, and we won't have to put unfair expectations on Parmelee.