Stint on Disabled List Is Refreshing for Parrish

At the rate he’s going, Lance Parrish might take a couple of weeks off every summer. It could be a sure-fire way to perk up a sagging batting average.

Parrish is less than a week removed from the 15-day disabled list. He missed 14 games because of a strained flexor muscle in his right arm.

But you’d never know it by the way he’s swinging the bat.

The time off hasn’t seemed to hurt him at the plate. Parrish is five for 15 in the three games he has played since being activated Tuesday.

He was two for six Saturday, including a home run, in the Rangers’ 7-4 victory over the Angels.

“Really, I’m surprised,” Parrish said of his hitting. “You just don’t come off the disabled list and hit this well. It’s strange.”

Strange or not, Parrish will take it. He has been able to pick up where he left off when he was injured.

On June 2, Parrish went 0 for four against Toronto, which dropped his batting averaged to a season-low .212. The next game, he began a seven-for-15 streak, which was ended by the arm injury.

Although Parrish worked out during the 15 days he was sidelined, he did not face much live pitching. So he expected that painful period of adjusting to major league pitches when he returned.

Instead, Parrish came off the disabled list and doubled in his first at-bat. In fact, he had three hits Wednesday against Kansas City, his first game back.

“It usually takes at least a few games to get your timing back,” Parrish said. “It was nice to get the three hits. That gave me some confidence right away.”

Parrish, 35, has taken that confidence and built on it.

Saturday, Parrish singled in his first at-bat. He then led off the fourth and hit Gerald Alexander’s first pitch well beyond the left-field fence for his eighth home run of the season.

Of course, home runs against the Rangers are nothing new for Parrish. Saturday’s was the 25th of his career against them. Three times he has had three home runs in a season against Texas.

But the plate is not the only place where Parrish has made a quick comeback. He also has excelled behind it, despite the arm injury.

Parrish first noticed the pain in his right arm June 9 while warming up Chuck Finley in the bullpen. The pain got progressively worse until June 16, when the Angels placed him on the disabled list, retroactive to June 10.

But since returning, he has demonstrated that he is not rusty defensively.

Parish saved a run in the top of the ninth. With two outs and runners on first and third, Jeff Robinson bounced a pitch in the dirt, which slipped past Parrish.

He scrabbled for the ball, and then slid on his stomach. He got up and flipped the ball to Robinson at the plate, keeping Ruben Sierra at third base.

Parrish also threw out three runners attempting to steal, including Julio Franco with runners on first and third to end the fifth.

“My arm feels good and I don’t feel like I missed a whole lot,” Parrish said. “I’ve felt that I’ve been able to pick up right where I left off.”