Zach Penrod's baseball journey continues; the southpaw makes his WooSox debut on Thursday night
The Red Sox promoted left-handed pitcher Zach Penrod to Triple-A Worcester last week after an impressive performance with the Portland Sea Dogs.
While with the Sea Dogs, Penrod went 4-0 with 53 strikeouts to 13 walks while holding opponents to a .183 average over 35 1/3 innings (seven starts).
Over his last three outings, the southpaw has thrown 17 1/3 innings, allowing just 11 hits and four walks with 29 strikeouts.
Penrod has shot through the Red Sox organization since he was signed out of the Pioneer League as a 26-year-old last season. The Idaho native was stellar for the Greenville Drive, posting a 2.18 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. He also recorded the win in the title-clinching game for the Drive, tossing five frames.
Following the Drive’s championship season, Penrod went to the Arizona Fall League and represented the Red Sox.
“It’s been a whirlwind; it feels like things keep getting thrown at me, and I’m just along for the ride,” Penrod said to the To the Show We Go Podcast. “It’s crazy to think I was in Montana, and all of a sudden I find myself in Arizona pitching in the Fall League. I’ve realized how quickly things can speed up on me, and meeting those challenges is enjoyable.”
The road to Worcester hasn’t been easy for the left-hander. Penrod initially signed with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent back in 2018 out of Division II Northwest Nazarene University. He pitched in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League that summer but underwent Tommy John surgery the following April and was subsequently released by the Rangers during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season in June 2020.
Penrod spent three seasons in the Pioneer League and wasn’t sure where his career would lead him.
“I was sitting on the couch, and I was doing my exercises after surgery, and I couldn’t turn my wrist,” Penrod said to Josh Ball of BTM last week in Portland. “I was just thinking to myself, 'How am I going to make it back?' How the heck am I ever going to throw a baseball again?”
Penrod pushed through his Tommy John surgery recovery, both mentally and physically.
“They always say the hardest part of recovery from TJ is the mental side, and they were not kidding,” Penrod said. “Discovering the difference between being sore and pain, it’s a mental grind.”
The 6-foot-2 and 210-pounder throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates a 94-95 mph fastball that has topped out at 97 mph, an 85-88 mph changeup, and an 84-87 mph slider, per his SoxProspects scouting report.
Penrod puts a lot of his success on transitioning from a thrower who has learned how to be an effective pitcher on the mound.
“Just a thrower that learned how to pitch, I guess I could say I was always up there trying to throw hard,” said Penrod. “So that was kind of what I lived off of. And then, you know, I developed a decent secondary pitch and my changeup, and I enjoy throwing it, so and then just spent the last three years kind of developing myself as more of a pitcher, rather than just up there just trying to throw as hard as I can by guys.”
“I was able to keep the velocity there and learn kind of how to pitch to guys; I think that's very important in today's game. As we move with data and everything like that, you're given like kind of a layout of how to how to approach guys, but at the same time, like you can, if you learn to make those adjustments while you're on the mound, then I think it's going to be a lot more beneficial to yourself,” added Penrod.
Penrod’s first WooSox start happens on the road against the Charlotte Knights from Truist Field, and the first pitch is at 7:05 p.m..
