Collins not ready for Parnell to close: Mets reliever Bobby Parnell recorded his eighth hold of the season Wednesday against the Reds and lowered his ERA to 2.12. Parnell has been productive this season and that has sparked talk about potentially putting him back in the closer's role. However, manager Terry Collins isn't at that point. "With what Bobby went through last fall, I'm gonna try to avoid that and let him build up to that closer role," Collins said before Thursday's game against the Reds. "He's got closer stuff. I don't want the failure side -- he's already had it once. He had some tough times last summer." (Updated 05/17/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/23/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Parnell blew as many saves (six) as he collected last year, proving he's not yet ready for the closer's role. "He's pitching very, very well in the situation he's in," Collins said. "And we're gonna gradually ease him into some different situations. … We're gonna probably give him some different opportunities, to pitch deeper into games, later in the games, 'cause he's earned that. He's certainly earned that. He's taken such a large step forward, I don't wanna have him take a big step back just yet." The talk has surfaced because of the inconsistency with closer Frank Francisco, but Collins is still backing Francisco. Parnell could obviously get a chance to close again down the road, but for now he's more valuable in leagues that reward for holds. (Updated 05/17/2012).
05/17/2012 17:05 Mets foil Reds on Wright's double
David Wright lined his second double of the game, a tiebreaking drive in the eighth inning that raised his major league-leading average to .411 and sent the New York Mets past the Cincinnati Reds 9-4 Thursday.
05/16/2012 22:44 Local product powers Reds past Mets
Todd Frazier hit two home runs, Brandon Phillips hit a tying single off Jon Rauch in the eighth and the Cincinnati Reds beat the New York Mets 6-3 on Wednesday night.
05/16/2012 12:56 Fantasy Relief: Let's be Frank about Francisco
Another week, another round of closer news. Are you on a never ending hunt for saves? Our Michael Hurcomb touches on some of the more volatile situations in his latest edition of Fantasy Relief.
05/14/2012 21:04 Mets sticking with Frank Francisco as their closer
Mets manager Terry Collins said he's not going to change closers after Frank Francisco blew his second straight save attempt on Sunday.
Bobby Parnell may throw hard, averaging 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball, but that doesn't mean he's an effective late-inning reliever. The Mets gave him his opportunity late last season, moving him to the closer role after trading Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers, and the results were disastrous. Parnell blew three saves in a span of six appearances. The Mets have since beefed up their bullpen, adding Frank Francisco as their closer and Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez as fallback options, which means Parnell is back to being an anonymous middle reliever better left for deeper NL-only leagues. Really, you didn't want a guy with a 1.47 WHIP closing anyway. (Updated 1/25/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start