WHO IN GOD’S NAME IS PARKER ALAN BRIDWELL?
Parker A. Bridwell. Sounds a little like Chatsworth T. Osborne, Jr., (The Third).
On July 23, 2017 twenty-five-year-old Parker Bridwell, the Angels’ rookie righty pitched a career-high seven innings allowing 2 Boston Red Sox runs and was most efficient, out-dueling 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello in a series-clinching 3–2 Halo victory.
Porcello was saddled with his second complete-game loss in his last three starts despite allowing just 3 runs — solo HRs by Andrelton Simmons, Mike Trout and the backbreaker, a seventh inning shot by Luis Valbuena traveling a projected 375 feet with an exit velocity of 101.5 mph — on five hits over eight innings.
Bridwell opened the game by retiring the first ten Sox batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until Sandy Leon singled with two outs in the fifth. He departed after throwing only 78 pitches (55 strikes) and lowered his ERA to 3.09.
Credited with the win, Bridwell improved to 4–1. In his last three starts he has been charged with just four runs over 19 ⅓ innings (1.86 ERA) and has given up two or fewer runs in five of his last six outings.
The Angels acquired Bridwell on April 17th. from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash.
Kudos to the Los Angeles/Anaheim scouting folks; money well spent. No risk.
And did Peter Angelos need this dough — whatever the modest sum — so desperately?
Unless they had entirely given up on Bridwell or there is a story behind the story, the move could best be described as highly questionable, Dan Le Batard and Papi Gonzalo should pardon me.
Hindsight is 20/20 I get it but…
“None of us ever saw him throw a ball,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia sheepishly conceded. “We had heard about him, but I know that [GM] Billy Eppler was excited when we had an opportunity to get him, because he saw the upside, and you’re seeing that right now.”
The ‘upside’ includes a level head and what Scioscia calls “great makeup.” His success thus far has inspired self-confidence but also a budding maturity that is evident on the mound and in the clubhouse.
Regardless of the outcome, his mentality dictates that he live in the moment and refrain from getting too high or too low. The wonders of youth and the willful embrace of an even-keeled philosophy is somewhat oxymoronic but Bridwell is a quick study, taking cues from some of the veteran hurlers on the Angels staff.
“You always feel good about an outing you do good in, but it’s baseball, and it’s a humbling game, so you can’t really look at the good ones too much,” he astutely remarked.
(Wise beyond his years, poor grammar notwithstanding).
As for Scioscia, he sees how Bridwell goes about his business and it pleases him.
His willingness to attack the zone, locate, and generate late movement on his pitches is impressive but the sagacious manager and thirteen-year big league catcher admits that “he’s kind of learning on the fly how to be a Major League pitcher. He’s not afraid to go out there and challenge hitters, and he’s making good pitches and getting good results. I think as he gains confidence, you’re seeing a guy that’s getting an opportunity to do something.”
Bridwell features a full complement of pitches, the best of which is his four-seam fastball. He throws around 95 mph, mixing in a two-seam sinker to keep the hitter honest. His secondary pitches including a cutter, a slider and a changeup must be relied upon more frequently, particularly the changeup.
Using his 6’4” height and slender, lanky frame he resembles a whippet (who may grow into a real greyhound) pitching downhill and taking control of the at-bat. The fact that he walks an average of 2.35 batters per nine innings and strikes out an average of 5.8 is acceptable but in need of a marked improvement if Bridwell will be all that he can be.
He must knock off the gopher balls too: nine home runs surrendered in 46 ⅔ innings won’t cut it long-term.
Yielding a .281 BA to left-handed hitters in 98 PA and a .267 BA to righties in 92 PA — both too high — demonstrate an ability to navigate any kind of lineup and with experience and a little tweaking those batting-averages-against are likely to be reduced.
Certainly the Angels, on the hunt for pitching, and a raw developing talent like Bridwell appear to be a match made in heaven at this point. He will get extended opportunities to offer quality starts.
Part of the reason for Bridwell’s ascent to the Angels rotation is a mental toughness that is enviable.
Five years ago he was ready to quit. A stellar three-sport athlete from tiny Hereford, Texas (pop. 15,000) about 45 miles from Amarillo, he was foundering in the Orioles system and was ready to go home to play quarterback at Texas Tech where he had earned a scholarship to play both football and baseball. The grind of the minor leagues where he had enjoyed little sustained success was taking its toll.
Good thing his daddy talked him out of it.
Recalls his father Keith, “I told him ‘That’s not a good decision. Everyone says you have all the tools.’ I reassured him that he’s as good as anyone. He just had to put it together. And that was partly between the ears.”
Attitude — as it so often is — would be the key.
“I wasn’t mentally tough like I needed to be,” said Bridwell.
By his own admission he needed to develop courage, heart, a pair. The next day it was done. He brought a new mindset with him to the ballpark.
“At that point I decided I was going to be better, and it worked out.”
Attack intelligently and with purpose, coupled with a laser beam focus always. Not easy to implement, to put into daily practice.
[Hey] “I’m gonna throw my stuff up there and see if you can hit it,” Bridwell theorized. Added Scioscia, “Pretty much every time out, he’s pitching his game and letting hitters try to adjust to him.”
In the five years since that fateful conversation with his dad, he has gone from being a scuffling pitcher in Class A ball — a ninth round O’s draft pick in 2010 — to a contributing member of a major league rotation.
A balanced repertoire and attitude underscored by brimming confidence and uncommon poise have vaulted Bridwell to the cusp of prominence.
Humility and gratitude keep him grounded; he makes sure that he steps off the mound during every outing to absorb and appreciate his surroundings.
“It’s really cool to step off during a game and realize where the hell you are,” he mused. “Holy shit, this isn’t Hereford, Texas. This stadium is bigger than any building in my hometown. I’m from a small town and I’ll always be that kid. If I’m pitching 10 years from now, I’ll still do that. That’s just who I am.”
Parker Bridwell is not, nor is he likely to ever be a strikeout pitcher. His velocity is not off the charts and the natural — not late — action on his pitches doesn’t really lend itself to piling up Ks.
But he is tenacious and only too willing to engage.
Last night (July 28th.) against the Blue Jays he induced contact, his defenders adeptly fielded the balls put into play and the Halos and Bridwell won the game 7–2. He retired the first 11 batters he faced. His line? 7.1 IP; 3 H; 1 R; 1 ER; 1 BB; 4 K. It was their seventh victory in his eight starts; his record is now 5–1 and he lowered his ERA to 2.83 in 54 innings pitched over nine appearances.
Thus far he has stranded 90% of the runners who reach base against him, an ungodly number and one that nobody in history has ever maintained over the course of a full season. His BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) is .266. And he’s been lucky to get plenty of run support — 4.63/game — in his starts.
He works quickly. At an average of 23.2 seconds between pitches, he works faster than anyone on the Angels staff, seven seconds faster in fact than closer Bud Norris.
As second baseman Kaleb Cowart readily offers, “That’s the guy you want on the mound.”
If things continue as they are going, he surely is poised and ready to be ‘that guy.’
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in July 2017.]
