Penny has pitching, and confidence, intact
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Brad Penny had fired 79 pitches through the soggy Florida air, the kind that makes you think you need to chew it before you can breathe it. He sweated through his cap and grunted when he needed something extra. "I mean, I grunt," he said. "I'm kind of a max-effort guy."
And still, after so many fastballs that zipped over home plate with more velocity than any he threw last year, Penny wasn't done. One month ago, his shoulder fatigued to the point he could not start a spring game. Yesterday, he finished five innings and walked not into the clubhouse, but out to the bullpen so he could throw 14 more pitches.
Beset by ominous signs concerning his health at the outset of spring training, Penny completed a full recovery yesterday. He passed the final test in the Red Sox' last game in Florida, the five hits and three runs he surrendered to the Minnesota Twins less important than the 94- and 95-mile-per-hour heaters his right shoulder consistently unleashed. Barring a change in the rotation owing to weather, Penny will make his regular-season Red Sox debut April 12, the first day Boston will need a fifth starter.
"I felt like I could throw my 80th pitch as hard as I threw my first," he said. "No pain. Velocity was there. I think today was probably the best overall stuff I've had this spring."
Which means it was the best stuff he's had since virtually as long as he can remember. Penny started on Opening Day last season, an honor bestowed to only 30 men. He pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings for the Dodgers, but he never felt right last year, not even in his first start. "I probably topped out at 89 Opening Day," Penny said.
That's where Penny began when he arrived this spring, in need of rebuilding. He believes he's turned back into the pitcher who was selected for the All-Star Game in 2006 and started it in 2007. He needed only three starts in 11 days.
On March 23, Penny tore through three innings in just 33 pitches. He challenged himself in that start, focusing less on pitching and more on throwing as hard as he could. He scaled back five days later, throwing 68 pitches but more intent on his game plan than raring back and testing his shoulder.
Penny combined both aims yesterday. He buzzed fastballs as hard as he could, and he also tweaked offspeed pitches. Against Mike Redmond, Penny threw back-to-back curveballs for the sake of experiment.
The start also bolstered his confidence, almost to the level of defiance. When the Sox acquired Penny, he spoke of the motivation to return to being viewed as an elite pitcher. Now that he feels healthy, he cares only about what he thinks.
"I'm kind of past that," Penny said. "I didn't have the velocity I have now last year at all. I don't think there was a game I touched 95. As long as I'm healthy, I don't feel like I have anything to prove. If you're not healthy out there, it's tough to get hitters out."
The final hurdle blocking Penny's first start April 12 is out of his control; it's the weather. If the Sox are rained out during their three-game series against the Rays at Fenway Park to start the season, it could alter Penny's throwing schedule or dismiss the need for a fifth starter until after April 12. The possible machinations kept manager Terry Francona from officially deeming Penny the starter for that date.
"Depending on weather, we want to keep some things open," Francona said. "But we'll get to it. It's kind of a weird setup, and then who knows what's going to happen in Boston? Weather can get in the way of some things. We just have to stay in tune with that."
Good weather, really, would be one more lucky break for Penny. He signed with the Sox in large part because of their training staff's renowned shoulder program. "You know, it's easy to buy into what these guys do," Penny said. "My whole body feels great." Penny also felt fortunate that the World Baseball Classic extended camp by three weeks. If not, the bout with fatigue may have made making his first start April 12 impossible.
But now that March is over, and optimism has replaced apprehension, he's ready to discover his new home. In the bowels of Hammond Stadium, less than an hour away from boarding the bus that took the Red Sox to Southwest Florida International Airport, someone suggested that this had been a long spring.
"Way too long," Penny said. "I can't wait to get on that plane."
Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com. 