All Aboard The Pete Parise Train

Springfield, Missouri and the Springfield Cardinals are sad to see Pete Parise move on, but are happy with what he was able to contribute to the Double-A club in his short stint this season. Matt Baker of the Springfield News-Leader talks about Parise’s interesting journey to get to Triple A in his piece, Parise on fast track. Here are a few snippets:

As Pete Parise finished his senior season at Pitt in 2007, he knew his .285 average and zero home runs weren’t going to give him a chance to play professional ball as an outfielder.

So the New York native followed the advice of scouts and became a pitcher.

Parise draws praise from the Cardinals for throwing the ball low in the strike zone and pitching to contact. Scouts have compared him to former Springfield Cardinal Kyle McClellan, now a reliever in St. Louis.

“He’s been picking up a lot of important innings as far as bridging the gap between starters and late relievers,” Springfield pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd said. “Getting to those guys, that’s a vitally important role right there, he’s done a good job of it.”