'It's been an adventure going through Red Sox system'; Zach Penrod reflects on journey that's led to Triple-A
One year ago today, Zach Penrod was pitching in the INDY League for the Missoula Paddleheads. Now a year later, the left-hander is one step away from the big leagues.
Penrod received the news that he was getting promoted to Triple-A after making seven starts for the Portland Sea Dogs to begin the 2024 season.
“It has been more of a shock than anything,” Penrod said of his promotion. “The game changes more so from Double-A to Triple-A than it does from High-A to Double-A. The transition has been fun getting to know some of the guys up here. I got through the first one and know I have a little bit of the weight off my shoulders. Now I can take a deep breath and settle in a little bit.”
The Nampa, Idaho native made his first Triple-A start last week on the road in Charlotte and threw four scoreless innings. It was his first taste of the automated balls and strikes system as well as facing off against hitters that have seen plenty of MLB time. It’s also worth noting that Charlotte had a MLB All-Star rehabbing in the lineup that day by the name of Luis Robert Jr.
“Hitters have a much better approach up here,” Penrod noted. “It is tougher and forces me to throw in the zone a little more. They won’t bite as much so I have to be a little more precise. I just need to continue doing what I was doing to an extent. Hitters are much more mature as some guys have been up and down between the major leagues, so they know what kind of pitch they are looking for.”
Penrod is still only 12 starts into his second stint of affiliate ball and has not shown any signs of slowing down. While in INDY ball, walks were an issue in 2021 and 2022 when he had a BB/9 over 5.5 each year. He dropped that number significantly in Portland to start the year as he put up a 3.3 BB/9 over his 7 starts. He has also been reported to be consistently hitting 97 MPH on his fastball, which is added velocity he did not have in previous years.
“Getting to two strikes and finishing it from there has been my biggest success,” Penrod said of what he has worked on. “As long as I stay in the zone and not let guys get too comfortable, it has been helping me get more strikeouts. I was trying to pick at the corners too much in the past and get behind in the counts and hitters will start to hit you. Just getting that first strike and going from there and being able to throw multiple pitches for strikes in the zone has been huge for me. Previously, it has just been trying to get the fastball across but now I am able to work in some off speeds in the zone early and that opens up things later in the count to work in the zone and stay there.”
Going from INDY ball to High-A Greenville to the Arizona Fall League to Fort Myers to Portland to Worcester all within a year probably is just as crazy as it sounds. Penrod has taken that exact path and even appreciates the places baseball has taken him.
“It has been kind of an adventure going through the system,” Penrod said. “I had never been east of Texas until I had signed with the Red Sox. It hasn’t been a culture shock, but I have realized how much of a small town kid I am being from Idaho. It has been fun though. That is the one thing I appreciate about baseball is that is has taken me to so many parts of the world I probably wouldn’t have gone to.”
