FanPost

The Kyle Parker Conundrum

It's not uncommon for a former first round pick to never reach his full potential and fade away into prospect obscurity. More often then not, that prospect will be given the all of the opportunities in the world to prove their worth, especially at the MLB level. But for Kyle Parker, this has not been the case.

While being a part of the September call ups, Parker saw just 17 at bats, while so called organizational fillers Ben Paulsen and Rafael Ynoa each saw much more playing time than the former 26th overall pick.

The crazy thing is that Parker has consistently performed and kept a steady offensive line (.292/.364/.493) through four different levels.

So why did the Rockies decide to let Parker ride the big league pine last September during a lost season?

I see three possible motives behind the perplexing Parker predicament last season.

The Rockies view Parker as Ryan Shealy 2.0

Ah yes, a blast from the past. Ole Ryan Shealy was supposed to supplant the Toddfather as the Rockies big bat first basemen until he was shipped off to Kansas City for Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista. A deal that SHOULD have worked out for the Rockies, but the Rockies couldn't keep Affeldt around and failed to develop Bautista's big arm.

But back to Parker. If the Rockies view Parker as the next Shealy, that means one of two things: they don't believe he can become an everyday valuable piece in the lineup, and they want to move him to a team who believes he is.

Basically, the Rockies fear that Parker is not making enough adjustments at the plate and is striking out way too much to minor league pitching, a trait that doesn't bode well for a major league future. So what can you do with a former first round pick with decent minor league stats? Trade him to a team willing to buy on his upside.

To Parker's defense, he has done a decent job at drawing walks at each level (although he took a step back in that department last season), and has hit 20+ home runs in three of his four minor league seasons. There will be some clubs out there willing to see if they can find a potential right handed power bat who can play multiple positions.

So in short, if this theory is true, the Rockies sat Parker so often during last fall to hide his flaws and maintain as much of his trade value as possible. Any team, especially AL, who needs some pop could be looking to buy low on the former first rounder.

Although this makes for some interesting conspiracy theories, I feel the least confident about this theory being true.

Weiss Wanted to Win

We have seen some of the growing pains with Walt already. From learning how to use the bullpen (if you can call it that), to pinch hitting and giving guys days off, Weiss has definitely endured some valuable managerial lessons on the fly.

Weiss can be a fiery guy who admittedly hates to lose. I can't imagine a manager who does, but I believe the inexperienced manager focused on the short term last September, rather than the big picture. It’s my opinion that part of the reason why Parker didn’t get more starts is the fact that Weiss didn’t think he could help the Rockies win.

Now don't get me wrong, I love that Walt is trying to instill a winning attitude amongst a team who has cleaned the NL West cellar the past few seasons, but when you enter the final month 18.5 games out of the wild card hunt, it might be time to see just what some of your younger guys are capable of. There is no reason that Brandon Barnes should have double the amounts of AB's Parker had in the month of April.

What better way for a young prospect to show you what he can do by actually facing MLB competition?

Now, there are a few other factors to consider before I run over Weiss with the bus I just threw him under. The outfield was log jammed from the start of the season and especially with the emergence of Dickerson and Blackmon and Stubb's better than expected seasons, it would be hard to find Parker much time. Also with Morneau in the heart of a batting title race, you couldn't justify sitting him for a rookie. So yes, Walt had some variables to deal with. But if he found nearly 40 AB's for Barnes and nearly 30 more for Paulsen, what's the reason a kid with Parker's pedigree only saw 17?

I have a hunch that Weiss was thoroughly unimpressed with Parkers showing up to that point and felt he was a sure out in the lineup, and for a manager with Weiss's pride and competitiveness, maybe he couldn't justify starting him.

Again, another conspiracy theory, but I feel that Weiss's inexperience played at least some small role in the failure to give a former first round pick ample playing time. You have 40 guys to set a lineup of 9 while still trying to win, while also experimenting for the future, all the while trying to keep your players who have been there all season happy. So yeah, it's not like Weiss job was that easy any way...

September was foreshadowing 2015

This is what I am leaning toward when searching for an answer as to why a team who finished 30 games below .500 couldn't find more playing time for one of their top ten prospects.

Parker has a chance to make the opening day roster as the backup first basemen. With recent attempts to trade Rosario, it seems as though his days as the make shift backup first basemen are numbered in Colorado. If Parker can beat out his competition in spring (Paulsen or a free agent) Parker's biggest role would become a run producing bat off the bench.

His bat would be a welcomed addition to the bench, even though Barnes did well in the pinch hitting role this season. RhodeIslandRoxfan shared this sentiment in his piece on Parker this October:

This constant practice of pinch hitting may be a clue as to what the Rockies want Parker to become in the near future. A guy who can come off the bench and provide some pop. If it works, that's a nice piece, especially if he doesn't have the boom stick to play first base or right field every day -RhodeIslandRoxfan

This makes much more sense. The at bats off the bench were training for Parker. For a player who has made the necessary adjustments to be a consistent run producer at every minor league level, a transition to coming off the bench would take some time. So why not use the time in September to get him used to it?

Now my gut says unless Parker lights it up in the Spring, he will start in AAA and will supplant Paulsen as the bat off the bench when he is ready.

This seems to be the best logical explanation, and I tend to lean towards this theory as being the answer to the question that has kept me awake for the last three months (sense my sarcasm?).

In the end, Parker's small sample size last season leaves a lot to be desired from a top ten prospect. He struck out 14 times in 26 plate appearances while not walking a single time.

But as I said, it was small sample size, one that included a start during the Kershaw no hitter. That's not even fair...

Parker isn't going to be the franchise's savior, he probably wont be an all star anytime soon, but odds are he can contribute. Lets give him credit for going through the rigors of the different minor league levels and never meeting the big setback. Its no easy task being in the middle of the lineup at every level and never falling below a .285BA.

I feel as though Parker can be a valuable bench piece and essentially develop into a Michael Cuddyer type player (in his Twins days), where he sits around .270/.335/.420 with 15-20hrs. I'd be okay with that on our bench.

So there are the theories, which do you believe?

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