Lesser Brewers: Manny Parra

MVBrewers is a player-by-player look at the most valuable members of the 2012 Brewers, as voted on by you. Here's our top ten:

1. Ryan Braun
2. Aramis Ramirez
3. Yovani Gallardo
4. Corey Hart
5. Norichika Aoki
6. Jonathan Lucroy
7. Carlos Gomez
8. Zack Greinke
9. Marco Estrada
10: Mike Fiers

Honorable Mentions: Martin Maldonado, Rickie Weeks, Jim Henderson, Mark Rogers, Shaun Marcum, Wily Peralta, Jean Segura, Jose Veras, John Axford,Francisco Rodriguez

Lesser Brewers: Nyjer Morgan, Travis Ishikawa, George Kottaras, Randy Wolf, Logan Schafer, Kameron Loe, Manny Parra

The series now continues with Lesser Brewers, to cover some of the remaining Brewers that we have not covered so far. This is the seventh installment in that segment. You can see all the player profiles in the Most Valuable Brewers 2012 section.

Oh, to be a hard-throwing lefty.

At one point in time Manny Parra was a top prospect. There was a lot of excitement around him when he joined the Brewers in 2007, but 172 appearances later most of the luster has worn off. Parra has posted a 5.12 ERA as a Brewer, walking over four and a half batters per nine innings.

After missing all of 2011 with injuries the Brewers were hopeful Parra could play a key role in the bullpen in 2012, but he was roughly the same pitcher there he's been for most of his five major league seasons. His 5.4 walks per nine innings were a new career high, and his absurdly-high 1.653 WHIP was in line with his career numbers.

Parra is a tough fit in the bullpen because his tendency to allow big innings makes it difficult to use him in multiple-inning situations. He doesn't work as a lefty specialist either, as demonstrated by the fact that he allowed opposing lefties to hit .267/.349/.417 against him this season. Opposing batters hit .345 on balls in play against him this season, continuing his strange career trend.

Because Parra is left-handed and throws hard (his average fastball clocked in at 92.6 mph this season), though, he keeps finding more opportunity. The Brewers have already jettisoned bullpen mates Kameron Loe and Jose Veras this winter, but they've held off on a decision on Parra to this point.

Parra is now 30th on the Brewer all-time list with 513 career innings pitched. Among the pitchers ahead of him, only Jeff Suppan (5.08 ERA over 577 innings) had an ERA over 5. He's also 20th with 262 walks allowed, and 16th with 479 strikeouts.

Best Game

The Brewers have probably held onto Manny Parra as long as they have because every now and then he gives them a glimpse of the pitcher he could be. Parra pitched two scoreless innings in the 12th and 13th of the Brewers' game against the Giants on May 21, giving the Crew two more chances to try to win the game. They didn't, but it wasn't his fault.

Unfortunately, MLB.com doesn't have any highlights from his performance.

Contract Status

Parra is arbitration-eligible for the third and final time this winter. If the Brewers decide to make him an offer, MLB Trade Rumors projects he'll make around $1.6 million in 2013. The Brewers also have the option to non-tender Parra, making him a free agent.