Manny Parra

Parra graduated from Casa Roble High School in Orangevale, California, in 2000. In addition to pitching in high school, he also played first base. He graduated from American River College in Sacramento, California, in 2002. He was selected as the National Junior College Player of the Year by Baseball America that season. In 14 games, he had a 7–2 win–loss record with a 2.02 earned run average (ERA).\n', ' Parra was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 26th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball draft. Shoulder problems resulted in a slower-than-expected advancement through the Brewers\' minor league system for the draft-and-follow prospect. They had also hindered the left-hander\'s ability to pitch deep into games, having only gone over 100 innings pitched in his 2003 season at Class A Beloit. After beginning the 2006 season at Class A-Advanced Brevard County, he was promoted to Double-A Huntsville in August and selected to participate in that year\'s Arizona Fall League. Through 5 years of professional baseball, Parra had a career minor league record of 28–15 with a 3.22 ERA. He had pitched just two complete games during this period. At the time, Parra relied primarily on his four-seam fastball but also utilized a curveball and split-finger fastball.\n', ' Parra attended spring training with the Brewers in 2007 where he allowed no runs or hits while striking out 3 batters in ​3 1⁄3 innings over 4 relief appearances. He was assigned to Double-A Huntsville to begin the 2007 season. After 13 starts, he had a win–loss record of 7–3 with a Southern League-leading 2.68 ERA. He was promoted to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in mid-June to replace ace pitcher Yovani Gallardo who had been called up to Milwaukee. Parra made his first career Triple-A start on June 20—a 3–0 loss in which he allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6 batters in 6 innings.\n', '