The Brewers’ Manny Parra threw 5 hitless innings Saturday, then left after getting one out into the 6th and having his no-hit bid broken up by the Giants’ Eugenio Velez. Parra ended up allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, which was good enough for his first win in the bigs. He says he didn’t have his best stuff, but the 25-year-old has been consistently effective since spring training and looks to be a solid back-end-of-the-rotation guy for the Brewers. Fantasy owners looking for an extra starter should keep an eye on Parra, who should get good run support from a potent Brewers offense.

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that Manny Parra will be the fifth starter behind Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, and Carlos Villanueva. In 6 games and 20.2 innings this spring, Parra had a 6.10 ERA and 1.55 WHIP.  Parra has major strikeout potential, and is definitely a prospect to watch as a fantasy sleeper this season.

In his latest start Saturday, 25-year old Brewers pitching prospect Manny Parra held the Kansas City Royals to three hits and one unearned run over five innings. He had 7 strikeouts. He now sports a ridiculous 0.64 ERA with 15 strikeouts in only 14 innings pitched.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel there are six pitchers vying for three openings in the Brewers rotation behind Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan. Parra is joined by Yovani Gallardo, Carlos Villanueva, Claudio Vargas, Dave Bush, and Chris Capuano for the final spots. Unfortunately, the fact that Parra has the least amount of major league experience of the group could factor in. Manager Ned Yost knows he has a difficult decision to make:

“The likelihood of two big-league pitchers going to Triple-A is getting more real. But this is the big leagues. We’re here to win. Nothing personal.”

However, Yost is keeping the door open for Parra to prove himself, and it will be hard to keep that kind of talent out of the rotation for long.

“If you’ve got four guys throwing the ball well, you’re going to go with experience,” he said. “But don’t read anything into that, either. I’m keeping an open mind. I’m waiting until the last second to form an opinion.”

Earlier this week we listed the top prospects getting cut from the Rays, Indians, Pirates, Nationals, Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox, Twins, Angels, and Orioles.  We’ve listed below a handful of prospects who have been cut since then.

• Beau Mills, 3B/1B, Indians
• Trevor Crowe, OF, Indians
• Matt LaPorta, OF, Brewers
• Phillipe Aumont, RHP, Mariners
• Robinzon Diaz, C, Blue Jays
• Charlie Morton, RHP, Braves
• Tyler Flowers, C/1B, Braves
• Brett Sinkbeil, RHP, Marlins
• Lance Broadway, RHP, White Sox
• Rick Porcello, RHP, Tigers
• Dexter Fowler, OF, Rockies
• Chris Nelson, SS, Rockies
• Jeff Samardzija, RHP, Cubs
• John Bowker, OF, Giants

Colin Fly writes that Manny Parra is showing that he belongs in the Milwaukee rotation, although a quick count of potential Brewers starters shows that 5 pitchers are vying for 2 rotation slots.  Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan are veritable locks for the first two, and are likely followed by Yovani Gallardo.  That leaves Carlos Villanueva, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, and Parra to duke it out to be named the last two starters.  We’ll keep you posted on Parra’s efforts.

Around the Grapefruit league:

• Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun reports that Scott Moore, the 8th overall pick in the 2002 draft, has been working at third base, first base, left field, and even gotten some time at second. Combining his utility on defense with a .571 BA and 4 RBI this spring is giving the 24-year-old a good shot at making the Orioles’ 25-man roster.
• Interesting background on speedy, switch-hitting Rays prospect Fernando Perez. Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times seems to think that Perez, who has hit over .300 in his past two seasons of class A ball, could start the year in Triple-A.
• Twins prospect Nick Blackburn only needed one inning of work to impress manager Ron Gardenhire on Wednesday, retiring the side in the fourth inning while striking out two. It’s a good thing he did, because the Twins’ skipper has a lot of pitching to choose from.

From the Cactus League:

• 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick Luke Hochevar has been impressive in Royals camp, retiring 11 of 12 in two two-inning appearances. This bodes well for his chances to make the club, although manager Trey Hillman has indicated that Hochevar may not be a candidate for the starting rotation.
• Manny Parra threw 3 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts Wednesday, furthering his case for a spot in the Brewers’ rotation.

You may remember Manny Parra as the touted fantasy sleeper late last season. With around one K/IP, he looked like a great pickup… until he broke his thumb bunting. Or you may remember him as the Triple-A prospect who threw a perfect game last year. At the end of this season, you might remember him as a great mid-season waiver wire pickup. The number two prospect in the Brewers organization, behind only slugger Matt LaPorta, this southpaw has great stuff.

As Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, Parra will more than likely start the season at Triple-A Nashville. The Brew Crew definitely recognizes this kids talent, but they don’t want to stunt his development by putting him in a relief role in Milwaukee. With the injury history off the Brewers’ starters, it could be a pretty quick stay in Nashville for Parra. Keep an eye on this guy as a definite fantasy sleeper this season.

MiLB.com put together a compilation of the best Q&A’s from their recent MLB.com Mailbags. We’ve summarized some of the prospect-related news below:

• Rockies’ prospect Greg Reynolds has been throwing well this Spring. If he keeps it up he could find himself starting at Triple-A Colorado Springs. If all goes well this season and he doesn’t suffer any setbacks after shoulder surgery, he could potentially be up in 2009. BA has him ranked at #98 overall in 2008.
• Two top pitching prospects in the Angels’ organization more than likely won’t be called up this year. The article describes Nick Green’s changeup as the best in the entire organization, with no lack of confidence to boot. Meanwhile, Nick Adenhart looks like the makings of a future staff ace. We probably won’t see either one up in 2008, though.
• With Yovani Gallardo probably starting the season on the DL, Carlos Villanueva could find himself in the starting rotation for the Brewers. This would put hot prospect Manny Parra either in the ‘pen or back at Triple-A. The writer suggests the Brewers might use Parra the same way they used Gallardo last season, as a mid-season injury replacement. Pay attention to this Parra kid; with almost a K/9, his stuff is nasty.
• Dbacks’ fans have been spoiled with some fantastic hitting prospects the past few years. Well now they can look forward to a few years of fantastic pitching prospects as well. The article says to look out for Max Scherzer (RHP, #66 on BA), Esmerling Vasquez (RHP), Jarrod Parker (RHP, #46 on BA), Hector Ambriz (RHP) and Brooks Brown (RHP).
• Folks in the Rays’ camp are so impressed with David Price, he has them “breathing in brown paper bags”. Even so, he is expected to start in high Single-A, but progress very quickly. This is definitely a prospect to watch. There is also note that both Jake McGee and Wade Davis will probably start the season at Triple-A. These three pitching prospects were ranked 10th, 15th and 17th respectively. That with James Shields and Scott Kazmir could be a pretty filthy rotation.