James comes to Bridgeport during his eighth season of professional baseball. The right-hander began the 2014 campaign with Gary of the American Association and comes to Bridgeport along with Stephen Hiscock for two players to be named later. With Gary, Parr went 2-2 with a 4.12 ERA, eight saves, finishing 13 of the 21 games he appeared in with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched.  2014 was his first season of professional baseball since 2010 after spending the previous seven seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves and in their minor league organization.

The righty made it to the Major Leagues with Atlanta in 2008 starting five games that year while posting a 1-0 record with a 4.84 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched. He also appeared in eight games for the Braves in 2009 all out of the bullpen finishing 4 of the games he entered recording 12 strikeouts in 14 innings. In his two years with the Braves he appeared in 13 games total (five starts) going 1-0 with a 5.20 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 36.1 innings pitched.
Parr was originally drafted by the Braves in the fourth round of 2004 draft. He holds a 48-38 career minor league record with a 4.10 ERA, three complete games, one shutout 12 saves and 547 strikeouts over the course of 154 career minor league appearances (118 starts).