Padre Notebook : Mark Parent Loses the Numbers Game, Gets Cut From Roster for Eighth Time

Larry Bowa, the Padre manager, made three more cuts Friday. Two of them were simple and logical: Outfielder Shane Mack and shortstop Gary Green both need a little more time at the Triple-A level.

Then there’s the story of catcher Mark Parent.

In this, his eighth trip to Yuma, Parent had the best spring training of his life. He batted .316, had one game in which he threw out three baserunners and didn’t commit an error all spring. He is 25, and when he heard that Bowa was thinking about keeping three catchers, he got his hopes up.

But Bowa cut him Friday.

“It was hard for me to tell him he didn’t make the team,” Bowa said. “He threw people out. He hit. It was a numbers situation with him. I couldn’t sit here and say, ‘You need to work on this and need to work on that.’ He did everything I asked him. . . .

“But with the offense we have, we can’t afford to take three catchers (Benito Santiago and Bruce Bochy are ahead of him.) We need all the extra men we can get. We don’t have that good an offensive team. It’s just a numbers game. It was probably the hardest cut. I can justify almost every cut, but I can’t justify this one. . . . He probably took it the hardest of anybody.”

Parent had tears in his eyes.

“It has happened a lot, and this year, I didn’t think it would happen,” he said. “I understand their side, but I still don’t like being sent down.

“I’ve got to go and call my wife . . . She’s behind me 100%, but nobody likes to fail. I mean, how do you lose without failing? I didn’t fail, really.”

Being a catcher with the Padres is a Catch-22 situation. Not only is there Santiago--the No. 2 rookie prospect this season, according to the newspaper Baseball America--but there are Bochy and 20-year-old Sandy Alomar Jr., who could turn out to be better than Santiago. Where does Parent fit in?

“His stock has gone up a lot, not only in our organization, but with a lot of organizations,” Bowa said. “Bochy’s on the last year of a contract, which could open up something, but I don’t know.”

Said Parent: “I think I fit in here pretty good. Sandy won’t be a backup catcher. Benny won’t, either. But I’d happy as a backup catcher. I don’t think Benny and Sandy would.”

If there were 25 men on a roster and not 24, Parent would be on the team.

“I don’t know what the logic is behind it,” Parent said of the 24-man roster. “But I’m not the first affected by it and certainly not the last.”

The Padres have two more cuts to make, and they will be made among pitchers Jimmy Jones, Ed Wojna, Tom Gorman and Greg Booker.

Wojna will start Sunday’s game against the Angels in Palm Springs, and Jones also will pitch that day.

If Wojna does well and Jones poorly, then Wojna most likely will be the fifth starter and Jones will be sent to Triple-A, Bowa said. If Jones is great and Wojna bombs, then Jones could be the fifth starter and Wojna could be kept around as a long reliever.

If they’re both great--or both ba then Bowa might wait until next weekend before making the decision.

Where do Gorman and Booker fit in? If Wojna wins the starting job, Gorman and Booker will compete for the 10th and final spot on the pitching staff. Booker, however, has had arm troubles and may begin the season on the disabled list, which would give the job to Gorman by default.

If Jones wins the starting job, then Wojna would battle Gorman and Booker for the remaining spot. The only sure thing is that Jones will either be the fifth starter or at Triple-A.

“A really good way to do this thing is when we’re flying from Denver (next weekend) to San Francisco (for opening day), we can just have parachutes on them,” Bowa said. “One will be dropped off (in Las Vegas). That would really give them some suspense.”

Padre Notes The Padres defeated the Brewers Friday, 2-1. Starting pitcher Andy Hawkins, who came in with a 9.00 ERA, struck out six and didn’t yield a run in six innings . . . . Pitcher Eric Show, who struck out nine Brewers in five innings Thursday, said his pitching mechanics are better than ever before. The only problem could be an elbow injury that bothered him last year.