ATLANTA - Suddenly, Brad Penny looks like a heck of a lot more than just bait. In fact, he looks more like a very big fish.
“We didn’t sign him to trade him,’’ Red Sox manager Terry Francona said yesterday of Penny, who will take the mound this afternoon when the Red Sox and Braves conclude a three-game series at Turner Field. “We signed him to win. He’s worked hard. I only think it’s going to continue to get better.’’
Penny’s recent history in Atlanta aside - he is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his last six starts here and has an 8.35 ERA in his last four starts against the Braves overall - his value to the Red Sox is indeed growing. Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the disabled list. A 42-year-old John Smoltz is working his way back from surgery. Tim Wakefield turns 43 Aug. 2 and Clay Buchholz remains a great unknown, no matter how many wins he records at Triple A.
The point? Already, Penny has been far more valuable to the Red Sox than people might think. And though the Red Sox almost certainly will have needs when the July 31 trading deadline approaches, Penny has more value to them in a Boston uniform than he does in anyone else’s.
If there was an urge to move him at some point, there certainly should not be one now.
“I’m glad they haven’t traded him and I hope they don’t,’’ said Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, who was also a teammate of Penny on the Florida Marlins. “People talk about him being a No. 5 starter. I want you to show me the teams who have four starters better than that guy.’’
OK, we checked.
Since his home-opening stinker against Baltimore, Penny has made 12 starts and posted a 4.12 ERA, a number that ranked 27th among qualifying American League pitchers during that span, entering yesterday. On average, that means there have been fewer than two pitchers per team who have pitched more effectively than Penny, a group that excludes every Red Sox starter except Beckett (3.48 ERA).
In his last three starts especially, Penny has been a bull. His fastball routinely has touched 95-96 miles per hour, and he has pitched with confidence and aggression. When the Yankees were at Fenway Park this month, aware that New York pitchers were plunking Boston batters at a far more alarming rate than the other way around - at the time, that count was 9-2 in favor of New York - Penny drilled Alex Rodriguez with one out and first base open in the top of the first. New York failed to score in the inning or at all against Penny, who contributed six shutout innings to a 4-3 win.
In subsequent outings, Penny has looked no less determined or healthy, the latter of which has been supported by the radar guns in the wake of a 2008 season during which Penny made just 17 starts.
Whatever issues he had then, they are gone now.
Physically and mentally.
