Blake Parker hopes to spend this season in the Angels’ bullpen

Blake Parker appeared to have a whirlwind of an off-season, at least in the eyes of his friends who are not familiar with baseball’s transaction wire.

The 31-year-old reliever was designated for assignment three times in 2 1/2 months. He was claimed by the Angels from the New York Yankees on Oct. 5, by Milwaukee from the Angels on Nov. 23 and by the Angels from the Brewers on Dec. 23.

“People ask me how it is going from team to team,” said Parker, who lives in Fayetteville, Ark. “I tell them, I’ve been sitting on my couch the whole time, so it’s really not that big of a problem.”

Parker hopes to have a more permanent address and employer this season, preferably in Anaheim with the Angels.

The right-hander put himself in a good position to do so with a dominant Cactus League performance in which he gave up only one earned run in 10 games for an 0.87 ERA, striking out 18 — including the last 11 batters he faced in Arizona — and walking two in 10 1/3 innings.

It wasn’t just the numbers that impressed the Angels. It was the velocity of what Manager Mike Scioscia called his “sneaky-fast” fastball, which sat in the 94-mph range, and the sharpness of his curve and split-fingered fastball, pitches that can be difficult to snap off in the dry air of Arizona.

“He’s developed some really solid out pitches to go with good fastball command,” Scioscia said. “And in Arizona, if you see a split or a curve that is really sharp, you know a guy is throwing a quality pitch, because it’s tougher to get your stuff to look crisp there.”

Parker, in his 11^th professional season, has appeared in 91 major league games with the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Yankees, going 3-3 with a 3.87 ERA, 100 strikeouts and 33 walks in 90 2/3 innings. He appeared in 16 games for the Yankees last season, with a 4.96 ERA in 16 1/3 innings.

Parker, signed to a minor league contract, entered the Freeway Series as one of six right-handers in the running for three bullpen spots, a competition that includes Bud Norris, Mike Morin, Yusmeiro Petit, Kirby Yates and Austin Adams.

“That’s the goal every year,” Parker said, “to try to show you’ve been working hard in the off-season to get to a place where you can make an impact early in the season.”

If he doesn’t make the team, Parker probably will pitch at triple-A Salt Lake. The decision is expected to go down to the wire.

“There’s a number of guys in our bullpen who have certainly put their best foot forward, and Blake is one of them; this guy has really pitched well,” Scioscia said. “As we get down to these final decisions, that’s all a player can do is perform.”

Final tuneup

While the Angels returned to Southern California to play the Dodgers on Thursday, Tyler Skaggs, who missed all of 2015 because of elbow surgery and much of 2016 because of a shoulder injury, remained in Arizona to pitch in the controlled environment of a minor league game.

Skaggs threw 92 pitches over five-plus innings against San Francisco’s triple-A team, giving up five runs and eight hits, including a two-run homer to Kyle Blanks, striking out four and walking two. His fastball ranged from 87-93 mph.

Barring a setback over the weekend, Skaggs is expected to open the season in the fourth or fifth rotation spot.

Short hop

Andrelton Simmons sat out his fourth straight game because of soreness on the left side of his lower back, but the shortstop expects to play Friday night and be ready for Monday night’s season opener. “If this was the regular season, I’d be playing, 100%,” Simmons said. “You wouldn’t even know about it.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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