Jeff Parrett

Jeffrey Dale Parrett
(Bird)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 193 lb.
• School University of Kentucky
• High School Lafayette High School (Lexington)
• Debut April 11, 1986
• Final Game September 28, 1996
• Born August 26, 1961 in Indianapolis, IN USA

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Biographical information

Pitcher Jeff Parrett was signed as a 9th round pick in the 1983 amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and scout Gerry Craft. However, he never played for the Brewers in the majors, as he was taken in the 1985 Rule V Draft by the Montreal Expos and made his major league debut with them at the start of the 1986 season. He had never pitched above Class A at that time, spending the 1985 season with the Stockton Ports of the California League, where he had gone 7-4, 2.75 with 11 saves in 45 games.

He did not manage to stick with the Expos all year during his rookie season, going 0-1, 4.87 in 12 games before a deal was worked out with the Brewers so that he could be sent down to the minors. In 25 games with the AAA Indianapolis Indians, including 8 starts, he went 2-5, 4.96. In 1987 he excelled while used strictly as a reliever with Indianapolis, going 2-1, 2.01 with 9 saves in 20 games, and he was called up to Montreal to stay. He continued to do well for an overachieving team, with a record of 7-6, 4.21 and 6 saves in 45 games, logging 62 innings. he then had a breakout season in 1988, finishing at 12-4, 2.65 in 61 games with 6 saves.

After the 1988 season, he was a key part of a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies that netted the Expos starter Kevin Gross. He headed to Phiiladelphia alongside highly talented by troubled pitcher Floyd Youmans, with the Phillies waiving their rights to Rule V Draft pick Jeff Tabaka. He turned out to have the best season among all the pitchers involved in the deal, as he went 12-6, 2.98 with 6 saves in 72 games in 1989. He was a true workhorse out of the bullpen that season, with 105 2/3 innings. He also had more strikeouts (98) than hits allowed (90), something that was still relatively rare at the time. However the strain of heavy usage over the previous two seasons began to show in 1990, as his ERA ballooned to 5.18 in 47 games for the Phils. He went 4-9 and was even given 5 starts to see if he could find his groove again in a different role. On August 3rd, he was sent to the Atlanta Braves in the blockbuster trade in which the Phillies acquired OF Dale Murphy. Atlanta also received IF Vic Rosario and OF Jim Vatcher in the trade, but the most valuable player in the deal was the player to be named later sent to Philadelphia a week later, P Tommy Greene. For his part, Parrett pitched better in Atlanta, going 1-1, 3.00 with 1 save in 20 outings.

In 1991, the Braves famously went "worst to first", winning a fist division title since 1982, but Jeff spent most of that season in the minors. With Atlanta, he was 1-2, 6.33 in 18 games, but went 2-7 4.82 in 19 games for the AAA Richmond Braves, mainly as a starter. He did not appear in the postseason and signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Athletics for 1992. He did make it to the postseason that year for the only time of his career pitching 3 times in Oakland's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in 2 1/3 innings. During the regular season, he had gone 9-1, 3.02 in 66 games. He returned to the National League in 1993 after signing as a free agent with the expansion Colorado Rockies, but like many others who would follow him to Denver, he found that pitching in the thin air of the Rocky Mountains was a challenge. His ERA rose up to 5.38 in 40 games, and as had been the case when he struggled in his second season in Philly, he was given a few starts to see if that would help him. He finished at 3-3 with 1 save.

After spending 1994 in the minors in the organization of the Kansas City Royals, he resurfaced with another workhorse season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1995. His record was just 4-7, but his 3.64 ERA in 59 games and 72 2/3 innings was pretty good (his ERA+ was 114) and he struck out 71 batters. He returned to the Cards at the start of 1996, going 2-2, 4.25 in 33 games, but was released at the end of July and signed by the Phillies. His last two months in the City of Brotherly Love were actually quite successful, with an ERA of 1.88 in 18 games and 22 strikeouts in 24 innings, but they were his last big league appearances. He became a free agent after the season, and not team was interested in signing him, so he had to retire at age 35 even though it looked like he was still able to get big league batters out.