| Parmelee will get his extended shot at everyday playing time. (US Presswire) |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Chris Parmelee was the Twins' first-round draft pick in 2006. After parts of seven seasons in the minor leagues -- including last season, when Parmelee was unable to stick with the big-league club -- the Twins are now fully committed to him playing every day.
"If you put him out there and let him play every day, he's going to get better and better," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Tuesday.
Parmelee got semi-regular at-bats early last season, but struggled and was eventually demoted back to the minors. He ended the season with a line of .229/.290/.380, five homers and 20 RBI in 210 plate appearances, but there's still some reason for optimism heading into 2013.
"He's made a lot of progress after he was sent down last year, became a pretty good hitter," Gardenhire said. "He's learned to cover the ball a lot better and use the field a lot better. He's learned to get his pitch, and when he gets it, drive it."
Indeed, Parmelee torched Triple-A pitching after he was sent down. He hit .338/.457/.645 with 17 homers and 49 RBI in 64 games. This was by far the best offensive production Parmelee had displayed at any level of the minors during his entire career and it came in his first stint in Triple-A, as he'd previously jumped from Double-A to the majors. Simply, it's entirely possible he just needed that last bit of seasoning.
"I think it's a process," said Gardenhire. "There's still a lot of at-bats that need to be had. It takes a long time to become an accomplished major-league hitter. But the start is what he did last year, put himself in a good position to earn those at-bats, and now we'll see where he goes from there."
With Denard Span traded to the Nationals and Ben Revere set to play center field, Parmelee has essentially been handed the right field job. And after seven years of professional baseball, the time is now for him to start justifying his draft position.
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