In the weeks leading up to the MLB trade deadline, Bobby Parnell continued to show that he is an important component of the New York Mets’ increasingly bright future. Unfortunately, Parnell has missed the past week with what turns out to be a herniated disc in his neck, which caused pain down his arm and landed him on the 15-day disabled list.
Parnell received an epidural injection on Monday in hopes it would help alleviate his symptoms. What the Mets really should do is shut him down for as long as it takes to get him back to full pitching form.
Parnell, for his part, is showing wisdom on the matter:
“I don’t want the season to end like this … I want to get back. But I’ve got to be smart about it, too. If I go out and re-injure it right quick, it’s going to set me back even farther. We’ll see how this first shot goes and go from there.”
Neck injuries and herniated discs can be nasty, lingering injuries, especially in professional athletes, so the herniated disc and arm pain are cause for real concern. Bobby Parnell is a hard thrower, and pitching through this kind of injury could make the injury worse, as well as mess with his mechanics, numbers and confidence. He’s only 28, and he’s a building block for a team that’s becoming pitching-dominant. Climbing back from the outskirts of the Wild Card race is not worth mortgaging the future.
