Manny Headed to Nashburg

Looks like I was wise to post those flight times after all, because Manny Parra is definitely going to be on one of them. After his dreadful 1 2/3 innings performance in which he gave up six runs, Parra has been sent down to Nashville. This should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody, as Parra has been the weak link of this pitching staff for over a month now. By getting his 8th lost of the season on Saturday, Parra now has as many losses to his name by June 13th as he did all of last year. We hope to see you back up soon, Manny, but this move absolutely had to happen.

Lefty Chris Narveson, who you know from Spring Training box scores, has been called up in place of Parra and will be used in the bullpen. Because of the scheduling, the Brewers don't need a fifth starter until the end of the month, so it appears they'll be going with a four-man rotation until then. Narveson will get the big league experience he deserves, while Parra will get to work with former Brewers pitcher Chris Bosio, now the pitching coach in Nashville.

I'm optimistic this move can work out for Manny the way it did for Dave Bush last season. However, if Parra doesn't get his act together soon, we may be looking at another failed Brewers pitching prospect in the likes of Ben Henrickson, Dana Eveland, and Jorge De La Rosa. Good luck, Manny.

As for Manny's performance today, it doomed the Brewers early and they knew it. Jose Contreras only gave up two hits across eight innings, and the only run the Brewers could muster was a Casey McGehee RBI in the 9th as the Brewers ended up losing 7-1.

Todd Coffey, Trevor Hoffman (who needed the work), and Carlos Villanueva all pitched well in relief, but the Player of the Game award goes to Chris Smith. Smith filled in for Manny Parra and stopped the bleeding, going 3 1/3 innings while giving up just one hit, and that happened to be a home run. Smith also struck out five and while able to save the bullpen from being entirely depleted. This award should come as no surprise, Mike Burns got the honor for doing the exact same thing - stopping the bleeding - during a Manny Parra start last week.

The other worthwhile note from this game was we saw Frank Catalanotto play some second base for the first time this season, that was interesting. Rubber match is Sunday afternoon at 1:05pm.

No matter what, no matter when, no matter who... any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom.