Indians: All 4 players Cleveland should bring back for 2022
By Chad Porto
RP Blake Parker
Age plays a factor here, but with how heavy of use the Indians bullpen got in 2021, it isn’t a bad idea to bring back all the pieces you had in the pen. He’ll be 37 years old next year but the bullpen was a major strength in part to Parker. He had a solid year, appearing in 47 games, going 43.2 innings pitched, with a 3.09 ERA, and only walking 14 batters during his time with the team.
He’s not a set-up guy or a closer but he could easily be one of the two or three middle-relievers the team relies on to hold a lead or eat-up innings without games getting the better of him. He threw his fourth-most innings last year, and the thought of his age does creep up when you realize he posted some really impressive numbers. Guys his age doesn’t usually get better.
That said, it’s not like the unit is exactly over-flowing with known commodities. The unit really relied on four or five guys, and one of them was so overburdened, James Karinchak, that he fell apart the last month of the season and even got demoted for a time.
If the team can bring him back on an affordable deal, there isn’t a good reason to not bring back Parker.