MARCH 12: Parker and his agent are consulting with other doctors before deciding on how to proceed, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s expected to be in camp with the A’s on Monday, Shea notes, so we could learn more about the injury then.
MARCH 11: Athletics righty Jarrod Parker received devastating news today, with the team announcing that he has been diagnosed with a re-fracture of the medial epicondyle in his right elbow (via John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group, on Twitter). That’s the same injury that most recently shelved the once-promising starter, who has also battled through two Tommy John procedures.
Needless to say, it’s a terrible setback for the 27-year-old, who was hoping to return as a reliever. He left the mound in obvious pain yesterday, though hopes were that it was only an unrelated elbow issue.
Parker was still working back to strength after his most recent surgery, which took place in May of 2015, so there’s a long and uncertain road ahead if he chooses to keep trying to make it back to the majors. It’s not yet clear how he’ll proceed — no doubt, he’s not yet ready to commit to a decision — but the particular fracture was already considered an unusual and largely unprecedented injury to recover from.
After the Diamondbacks made him the ninth overall pick in the 2007 draft, selecting him out of high school, Parker rose quickly and cracked the majors at 22 years of age. He went to Oakland as the key piece in the Trevor Cahill deal after a brief debut in Arizona, plugging right into the A’s rotation after four quality starts at Triple-A. Ultimately, Parker provided 378 1/3 innings of 3.73 ERA pitching over 2012-13.
Unfortunately, it’s now been quite a while since we’ve seen Parker in action at the major league level. Since the end of that 2013 campaign, in fact, he has made just four minor league appearances.
Despite that, Parker has been accruing major league service time while on the DL and has managed to build up some fairly significant earnings based on his prior efforts. He made $850K in arbitration last year and agreed to the same sum this time around — half of which, notably, is said to be guaranteed. Parker will be entering his final season of arb control in 2017 before qualifying for free agency, and some creative contract work may be needed if he and the team decide to keep trying.
I know it would be painful, but hes has to retire. I dont know if a few more years is worth the horrific pain he’ll have in 30 years. I hope im wrong and he can come back and be effective and healthy, but man is this unfortunate news
that is utterly heartbreaking.
It seems baseball just isn’t working out for him. Better to retire before he ends up losing a limb.
oh man. sports can be cruel.
This poor kid has to be heartbroken. He needs to hang it up for a couple of years. Try a Kazmir like return after he has given his elbow lots of time to heal. Retirement is probably his best move for long term health.
Poor kid. It almost seems cruel, have a talent that could make your dreams come true only to have bad luck. Hopefully in a couple of years he’ll get a comeback.
darn. This sucks.
another wasted talent. Rick Ankiel the 2nd
Not sure I see the connection.
EDIT: thought you were being glib somehow, then saw your other comment. Agreed that it’s awful news, of course.
I’m guessing most pitchers that flame out would love to have the second career life that Ankiel enjoyed. I’ve wondered what we’d have had on our hands had he been able to stay on the mound with that curveball, and patrol CF the other four days. Talk about a truly elite ability.
This is just brutal…
And even in this state he’s probably better than Cahill..
That’s just awful, I wish this kid nothing but the best, I liked him ever since he came up and always wanted him to succeed, I hope he can’t get back to shape some day he’s a great pitcher
Super ironic considering somebody asked in the chat yesterday when Parker’s arm was going to explode once and for all. Poor guy, best of luck with whatever path you chose.
That was me. I asked when his arm was gonna spontaneously combust, and sure enough…
Way to jinx it, dude…
I hoped I was wrong, I love Parker and wish him nothing but the best, but At that point the report of him throwing one pitch before walking off the mound screaming had already been out, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be good.
Among the many reasons i don’t begrudge athletes their right to negotiate contracts, or the money they make. You are always one moment away from a career altering or career ending injury. Let’s wish him a healthy and pain-free future first.
I asked in the chat yesterday when his arm was gonna spontaneously combust, and sure enough…
Does it make you feel like a BIG guy cause called it???
No. I love Parker, and sincerely hope he can make another comeback. Maybe I could have phrased the question a little better, but in NO way was I trying to predict, or even wish for the worst
Poor guy can’t catch a break.
Unfortunately, he caught two of them.
Comment of the year
He reminds of what Gavin Floyd has been going through the last few years. Never heard of pitchers breaking/fracturing elbows while pitching before these two.
Reminds me a little of Dave Dravecky. Sad situation for a talented pitcher.