Tag: zach penrod

Red Sox to promote pitching prospect Zach Penrod to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox are promoting pitching prospect Zach Penrod from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, as was first reported by Josh Ball of Beyond the Monster.

Penrod has not officially been added to Worcester’s roster yet but was at Polar Park for Saturday’s 9-5 loss to the Norfolk Tides. The 26-year-old left-hander last pitched for Portland on Friday, allowing four earned runs on five hits, one walk, two hit batsmen and nine strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Hartford Yard Goats at Hadlock Field. He threw 90 pitches (59 strikes) and elicited 17 swings-and-misses.

The reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, Penrod posted a 2.80 ERA and 2.81 FIP with 53 strikeouts to 13 walks in seven starts (35 1/3 innings) for the Sea Dogs this season. He has struck out 29 of the last 69 batters he has faced dating back to May 12.

Among 38 qualified Eastern League pitchers coming into play on Saturday, Penrod ranked first in strikeouts per nine innings (13.5), swinging-strike rate (17.2 percent), and xFIP (2.72), second in strikeout rate (37.1 percent), fourth in batting average against (.183) and FIP, sixth in WHIP (1.02), and 13th in ERA, per FanGraphs.

Penrod, who turns 27 next month, is in his first full season with the Red Sox organization after signing with the club out of the independent Pioneer League last August. The Idaho native had past experience in affiliated ball after originally going pro with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Northwest Nazarene University in 2018. He pitched in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League that summer but underwent Tommy John surgery the following April and was ultimately released by Texas at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020.

After spending the better part of three seasons (2021-2023) bouncing around the Pioneer League, Penrod latched on with the Red Sox last summer and reported to High-A Greenville. He pitched to a 2.18 ERA in four starts (20 2/3 innings) down the stretch and helped the Drive win a South Atlantic League title before heading out west and earning All-Star honors in the Arizona Fall League.

Altogether, Penrod has compiled a 2.57 ERA (3.26 FIP) with 73 strikeouts to 24 walks in 11 starts (56 innings) between Greenville and Portland. He is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 12th among pitchers in the organization.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Penrod throws from a three-quarters arm slot. As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and SoxProspects.com’s Ian Cundall, the southpaw operates with a 94-95 mph fastball that has topped out at 97 mph, an 85-88 mph changeup, and an 84-87 mph slider.

With this promotion to Worcester, Penrod is now just one call away from the major-leagues. In the interim, he will join a WooSox starting rotation that –at the moment — includes the likes of righties Richard Fitts, Grant Gambrell, Jason Alexander, Josh Winckowski, and Naoyuki Uwasawa.

(Picture of Zach Penrod: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Zach Penrod named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week

Red Sox pitching prospect Zach Penrod has been named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 13-19, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Penrod takes home the honor after impressing in his latest start for Double-A Portland this past Saturday. As part of a 2-1 win over the Somerset Patriots, the 26-year-old left-hander allowed just one earned run on one hit, three walks, and 10 strikeouts across six quality innings of work.

Penrod retired the first 14 batters he faced at TD Bank Ballpark before issuing a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth inning. He then gave up a leadoff single and issued two more walks to fill the bases with no outs in the sixth. Somerset pushed across one run on a sacrifice fly, but Penrod escaped any further damage by inducing back-to-back flyouts to get out of the jam and end his night on a more encouraging note.

Finishing with 90 pitches (59 strikes), Penrod recorded 25 swings-and-misses en route to earning the winning decision. The lefty is now 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA (2.95 FIP) and 44 strikeouts to 12 walks over six starts (30 innings) for Portland this season. He has put up those numbers while holding opposing hitters to a .173 batting average against.

Among 38 qualified pitchers in the Eastern League to this point in the year, Penrod ranks first in strikeouts per nine innings (13.2), swinging-strike rate (17.1 percent), and xFIP (2.59), second in strikeout rate (37.3 percent), third in batting average against, fourth in WHIP (1.00), fifth in ERA, and ninth in FIP, per FanGraphs.

Penrod, who turns 27 next month, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 12th among pitchers in the organization. The Red Sox originally signed the Idaho native out of the independent Pioneer League last August. He had previous experience in affiliated ball after signing with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Northwest Nazarene University in 2018, but has really put himself on the map this time around.

Since making his organizational debut nine months ago, Penrod has compiled a 2.13 ERA and 3.39 FIP with 64 strikeouts to 23 walks in 10 starts (50 2/3 innings) between High-A Greenville and Portland. He helped the Drive win the South Atlantic League championship last September and was then recognized as an All-Star in the 2023 Arizona Fall League.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Penrod throws from a three-quarters arm slot. As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and SoxProspects.com’s Ian Cundall, the southpaw operates with a 94-95 mph fastball that has topped out at 97 mph, an 85-88 mph changeup, and an 84-87 mph slider.

Given the success he has enjoyed with Portland so far this season, it certainly seems as though Penrod could be nearing a promotion to Triple-A Worcester. There are some questions about what role (starter or multi-inning reliever) he is best suited for moving forward, but he has nonetheless emerged as an intriguing within the system.

(Picture of Zach Penrod: Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

Red Sox prospects at the Fall Stars Game: How did Zach Penrod, Corey Rosier fare in AFL showcase?

Red Sox prospects Zach Penrod and Corey Rosier represented the American League in Sunday evening’s 2023 Fall Stars Game at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. How did the two Glendale Desert Dogs teammates fare in the Arizona Fall League’s 17th annual showcase?

Penrod received the first call out of the American League bullpen, relieving starter and Blue Jays pitching prospect C.J. Van Eyk in the top half of the second inning. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up a booming one-out double to Jakob Marsee that nearly left the yard, but the extra-base hit was immediately nullified when Marsee was thrown out at third base by left fielder Will Robertson. Penrod then fanned Marlins prospect Jacob Berry on three pitches and wound up facing the minimum in his lone frame of work.

Finishing with nine pitches (five strikes) Penrod induced a pair of whiffs and touched 96 mph with his fastball while also mixing in a changeup, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Rosier, meanwhile, served as the starting center fielder for the American League. Batting out of the nine-hole, the left-handed hitter went 1-for-2 with a single, a run scored, and a strikeout.

To lead off the bottom of the third inning, Rosier put his impressive speed on display by beating out a softly-hit grounder to third base for an infield single. He then went from first to third on another single before easily scoring on a wild pitch for the junior circuit’s first run of the contest.

That, at the time, knotted things up at one run apiece. Rosier struck out in his only other plate appearance before being replaced in center field by Dasan Brown. The American League then went on to defeat the National League by a final score of 6-3 in front of a crowd of 1,608 spectators. White Sox prospect Colson Montgomery — also a member of the Desert Dogs — earned MVP honors after going 2-for-2 with a 409-foot solo home run.

Two of eight Red Sox prospects playing in the AFL this fall, Penrod and Rosier were selected to the Fall Stars Game on Friday. Penrod has made four starts for Glendale thus far and is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA (third-lowest among qualified pitchers in the league) and 14 strikeouts to eight walks over 14 innings in which he had held opposing hitters to a .184 batting average against.

Rosier, on the other hand, has slashed a respectable .300/.391/.400 with four doubles, two triples, eight RBIs, 14 runs scored, a team-leading eight stolen bases, 11 walks, and 15 strikeouts in 20 games (92 plate appearances) for the Desert Dogs. The 24-year-old speedster has put up those numbers while seeing his playing time come at all three outfield positions.

With Sunday’s Fall Stars Game in the books, the AFL regular season will pick back up on Tuesday and come to an end on Thursday. As such, Glendale has three games remaining against Surprise, Peoria, and then Surprise again. At 12-15, the Desert Dogs are already out of contention for the top seed in the league. They can, however, still catch up to second-seeded Scottsdale (14-13) and third-seeded Salt River (14-14) for a spot in the play-in semifinals this coming weekend.

(Picture of Corey Rosier: Chris Coduto/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Red Sox prospects Zach Penrod, Corey Rosier selected to 2023 Fall Stars Game

Red Sox prospects Zach Penrod and Corey Rosier have been selected to the 2023 Fall Stars Game, the Arizona Fall League announced earlier Friday evening.

Penrod, a left-hander, and Rosier, an outfielder, will represent the American League in the 17th annual Fall Stars Game at Mesa’s Sloan Park this coming Sunday. The game, which is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. eastern time, will be broadcasted on MLB Network and streamed on MLB.com.

Penrod owns the second-lowest ERA (1.29) among qualified pitchers in the AFL this fall. To go along with that sparkling ERA, the 26-year-old southpaw has struck out 14 and walked eight in four starts (14 innings) for the Glendale Desert Dogs. He has put up those numbers while holding opposing hitters to a .184 batting average against.

The Red Sox signed Penrod out of the independent Pioneer League in August and assigned him to High-A Greenville. Having last pitched in affiliated ball as a member of the Texas Rangers organization in 2018, Penrod impressed with the Drive down the stretch this season by posting a 2.18 ERA with 20 strikeouts to 11 walks in four starts spanning 20 2/3 innings of work.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Penrod throws from a high-three quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph that tops out at 96 mph, a 90-91 mph cutter, an 84-87 mph changeup, and an 85-87 mph slider, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Penrod, who does not turn 27 until next June, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 49 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 17th among pitchers in the organization. The Idaho native is signed through the end of the 2024 season, but he could be an intriguing target for pitcher-needy clubs in December’s Rule 5 Draft if he is not added to the Sox’ 40-man roster by the protection deadline later this month.

Rosier, meanwhile, comes into play Friday slashing a solid .303/.391/.382 with four doubles, one triple, eight RBIs, 14 runs scored, a team-leading eight stolen bases, 10 walks, and 14 strikeouts in 19 games (87 plate appearances) for Glendale. Among qualified AFL hitters, the speedy 24-year-old ranks 12th in batting average, 20th in on-base percentage, 16th in runs scored, 12th in stolen bases, and eighth in strikeout rate (16.1 percent), according to MLB.com’s leaderboards.

Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Rosier was acquired from the Padres alongside veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer and fellow minor-leaguer Max Ferguson in the August 2022 trade that sent pitching prospect Jay Groome to San Diego.

After a rough go of things with Greenville last summer, Rosier bounced back nicely in his first full season as a member of the Red Sox organization. In 116 games between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester this year, the left-handed hitter batted .285/.351/.431 with 25 doubles, six triples, seven homers, 41 RBIs, 70 runs scored, 49 stolen bases, 37 walks, and 96 strikeouts over 444 trips to the plate. He also recorded seven outfield assists and was named Boston’s Minor League Base Runner of the Month on three separate occasions.

Rosier, who is currently ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 44 prospect in the system, is projected by the publication to return to Worcester for the start of the 2024 season next spring.

(Picture of Zach Penrod: Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Red Sox minor-league affiliate wins South Atlantic League championship

The Greenville Drive, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, were crowned 2023 South Atlantic League champions on Tuesday night.

Playing in front of a crowd of 4,393 on a warm evening at Fluor Field, the Drive defeated the Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees’ High-A affiliate) by a final score of 7-3 to sweep the best-of-three series and take home their first SAL title since 2017.

Greenville carried with it a 1-0 series lead heading into Tuesday’s contest after getting six scoreless innings from top pitching prospect Luis Perales and blanking Hudson Valley, 2-0, in Game 1 at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. on Sunday.

Dalton Rogers got the start for the Drive in Game 2. The 22-year-old left-hander went the first three innings, allowing one run on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. He took a shutout bid into the top of the third before giving up a two-out RBI single to Jesus Rodriguez to put the Renegades up, 1-0.

Moments after Rogers’ night came to a close, though, the Greenville bats quickly retaliated while going up against Hudson Valley starter (and Northeastern product) Cam Schlittler. Gilberto Jimenez doubled to lead off the bottom of the third and then moved up to third base on a Nick Decker single.

With no outs and runners on the corners, Eddinson Paulino delivered with a go-ahead, two-run double down the right field line to drive in both Jimenez and Decker and give the Drive a 2-1 advantage. That lead did not last long, however, as Renegades first baseman Rafael Flores led off the top of the fourth by cranking a game-tying solo home run off newly-inserted reliever Zach Penrod.

Despite the rude greeting, Penrod — who posted a 2.18 ERA in four regular season starts for Greenville — settled in nicely. The 26-year-old southpaw retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced after giving up the homer and watched his side re-take the lead in the process of doing so.

Ronald Rosario, Penrod’s battery mate, crushed a 424-foot, go-ahead solo blast to kick off the latter half of the sixth. An inning later, Tyler Miller provided some additional insurance with a sharply-hit RBI single through the middle of the infield. Kristian Campbell then broke it open by demolishing a three-run home run to deep center field off Matt Keating, giving the Drive a commanding 7-2 edge.

Penrod put up another zero in the eighth before allowing the first two batters he faced in the ninth to reach base on a double and a walk. That prompted Greenville manager Iggy Suarez to pull Penrod and bring in closer Felix Cepeda, who emerged as a steady presence in the back end of the bullpen for the Drive after earning a promotion to Low-A Salem in mid-July.

Cepeda recorded the first two outs of the inning before giving up an infield single on a pop-up he could not catch cleanly. A wild pitch allowed one of the runners Cepeda inherited to score from third, but the hard-throwing righty did not falter and instead punched out Cole Gabrielson on five pitches to end it.

With the victory, the Drive are now two-time South Atlantic League champions (2017, 2023). Campbell, who went 3-for-6 (.500) with one home run and four RBIs in two games, should probably be considered the MVP of this series. Penrod, meanwhile, earned the winning decision on Tuesday after striking out seven over five solid innings of relief and inducing a game-high 19 whiffs.

The Drive, who have been affiliated with the Red Sox since 2005, punched their ticket to this year’s SAL playoffs by going 36-30 and clinching a first-half division title. Despite struggling to a 27-39 record in the second half, Greenville swept the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers’ High-A affiliate) in last week’s division series and wound up marching to a perfect 4-0 in the postseason.

From start to finish, Greenville received contributions from several of Boston’s top prospects this season. Nathan Hickey, Blaze Jordan, Chase Meidroth, Marcelo Mayer, Wikelman Gonzalez, Angel Bastardo, Isaac Coffey, Grant Gambrell, Christopher Troye, and Alex Hoppe were among the talented minor-leaguers who broke camp with the Drive in the spring but earned promotions to Double-A Portland at different points throughout the year.

Mikey Romero, Cutter Coffey, and Roman Anthony (the Red Sox’ first three selections in the 2022 draft) all started in Salem this season before making the jump to Greenville. Anthony, of course, performed so well with the Drive that he was promoted to Portland earlier this month. The same can be said for catcher Kyle Teel, who — like Campbell — was drafted by Boston this summer.

Other notable prospects who played for Greenville this year include Cepeda, Perales, Rogers, Yordanny Monegro, Noah Song, Brock Bell, Reidis Sena, Brainer Bonaci, and Allan Castro.

(Picture courtesy of the Greenville Drive)

Red Sox sign lefty Zach Penrod to minor-league deal, assign him to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox have signed free agent left-hander Zach Penrod to a minor-league contract, per the club’s transactions log. He has been assigned to High-A Greenville.

Penrod, 26, had spent the entirety of the 2023 season up until this point with the Missoula PaddleHeads of the independent Pioneer League. In 13 appearances (10 starts) for Missoula, the lefty posted a 2.98 ERA with 65 strikeouts to 32 walks over 54 1/3 innings of work. He was named to the 2023 Pioneer League All-Star team earlier this month.

A native of Idaho, Penrod got his start in pro ball by originally signing with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Northwest Nazarene University in August 2018. A two-way player in college who elected to go pro as a pitcher, Penrod debuted in the rookie-level Arizona League five days after putting pen to paper and allowed 10 runs (eight earned) in four appearances (three starts) spanning 11 2/3 innings.

Unfortunately, Penrod missed the entirety of the 2019 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery that April. He was then released by Texas the following June as part of the Rangers’ minor-league roster cuts in the wake of the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

After working his way back from Tommy John and an additional minor shoulder procedure, Penrod returned to organized action in 2021 with the Boise Hawks (also of the Pioneer League). He spent all of 2021 and the first half of the 2022 season with Boise before being traded to the Billings Mustangs last month. All told, he owns a lifetime 4.84 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with 170 strikeouts to 88 walks in 39 career outings (27 starts, 145 innings) for three different Pioneer League clubs.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Penrod operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a power fastball that has been clocked at 98 mph this year as well as a “filthy” cutter and changeup, according to Idaho-based Earn It Sports.

Penrod, who does not turn 27 until next June, will wear the No. 40 with the Drive. While the southpaw has prior experience as a reliever, it appears as though he will be joining the Drive’s starting rotation.

(Picture of Zach Penrod courtesy of the Missoula PaddleHeads)