From new dad to big leaguer: Red Sox promote Zach Penrod from Triple-A Worcester; hurls scoreless frame in MLB debut
Zach Penrod’s journey in baseball has finally landed him in the big leagues.
It wasn’t an easy road to his Major League debut at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The southpaw played college baseball at Division II Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, where he was an outfielder and reliever. You can also throw in a Tommy John surgery to add another fork in the road.
Boston signed Penrod last summer and assigned him to High-A Greenville. He pitched in four games, helping them to a league championship. He then traveled southwest to play in the Arizona Fall League, where he was a Fall Star.
Penrod spent seven games at Double-A Portland to open the 2024 campaign before he was promoted to Triple-A Worcester. While with the WooSox, he recorded a 5.93 ERA with 40 strikeouts across 27 2/3 frames. Those numbers were split between five starts and 10 relief appearances.
Fast-forward to Saturday, Penrod was promoted to the Red Sox, tossing a scoreless frame of relief, walking one with two strikeouts.
The 27-year-old was able to soak in his experience with his wife Kyla and newborn daughter Noa Mae watching from the stands. His baby daughter was just born on Sept. 5.
“My wife has been there for every step of the way, and to share that moment with her was incredible,” Penrod said after posing for photos on the field with his wife and newborn.
Penrod was home on Saturday in Worcester when he got the call from WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia that he was heading to the bigs.
“I missed the first one, and then I grabbed the second one,” he said of the calls. “I just didn’t recognize the number.”
From pitching in Triple-A to changing diapers, Penrod walked on to the mound in the Bronx in the Yankees’ home half of the eighth inning. With Aaron Judge on second, Penrod struck out Austin Wells on a slider and then tossed a changeup down at Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s knees for his second strikeout. After walking rookie Jasson Domínguez, he would force Anthony Rizzo to popup to third baseman Rafael Devers.
The left-hander threw 26 pitches; 15 of them were fastballs that averaged 95.1 mph, along with seven changeups and four sliders.
“Eight days ago, they had a baby, so today’s his second-best day of his life,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “That’s the way we presented today. Very calm on the mound, then when he got the third out, he sat down on the dugout and he broke down. He broke down. I mean, we had so many stories about that the last few years: independent baseball, released Tommy John, and then they show up to Yankee Stadium and then get three outs. That’s the cool thing about this.”
The Sox gave Penrod the ball from his first strikeout, which he said he will give to his parents, and he will hand the lineup card in his home.
“It’s extremely emotional. I guess it’s been a very long ride,” he said. “So just trying to enjoy it.”
