BALTIMORE — After Bobby Parnell was booed off the mound Sunday during an embarrassing Mets loss, his manager, Terry Collins, approached him about taking a break. Parnell was obviously still feeling the effects of Tommy John surgery. He might not feel pain, Collins told him, but it was natural for him to need time to regain his touch.
And the Mets are not exactly in a position to wait. They are in a heated race in the National League East, trying to hold off the Washington Nationals for their first playoff berth since 2006.
So the Mets placed Parnell, their seventh-inning reliever, on the disabled list Tuesday with what they called right shoulder tendinitis and effectively sent a message to the rest of the players that no matter their standing, if they did not perform, there would be consequences.