Parra eyes return to form after disappointing ’16

DENVER — A couple of nights ago in San Francisco, the Rockies’ Gerardo Parra limp down the first-base line after a fly ball that ended a threat. Then he ripped off his batting helmet and tossed it to the sky.

Finally, on Friday, he tossed this season away and began hoping for a new, less painful day. After an MRI on Friday morning, Parra received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in a left ankle that cost him 46 games because of a high sprain. It never fully healed, so doctors placed his foot in a walking boot, which prohibited him from playing in the final three games.

By Friday, as he shook hands with teammates in the clubhouse, Parra’s usual smile and energy spirit were back. And he vows to be back to form in 2017.

“This was a year of too many frustrations for me,” Parra said. “I’ve never gone through a year like this. I’ve never in my career had injuries. But you know what? I’m positive.”

The Rockies signed Parra last winter to a three-year deal worth $27.5 million with hopes that he would provide offense production via high-quality at-bats, as well as the defense that earned him Gold Glove Awards with the D-backs in 2011 and 2013. Instead, the patience went strangely missing and there were notable throws to wrong bases defensively, even before he suffered the ankle injury on June 14 when shortstop Trevor Story accidentally rolled into him after chasing a fly ball in shallow left field.

At times, Parra, 29, …

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