Lefthander Zach Penrod is the best Red Sox pitching prospect you never heard of – The Boston Globe


“Oh my gosh, did he ever [impress],” one said earlier this year. “He’s the most impressive arm on that staff by a long shot.”

Such an assessment is wild, given that less than a year ago the 26-year-old Penrod was pitching for the Missoula PaddleHeads of the independent Pioneer League and contemplating the end of his baseball career.

“I felt like I was stewing in the bowl a couple of years,” he said. “When I turned 26 in June, I was like, ‘You know, see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.’ But obviously, things kind of went a different way.”

It had been years since Penrod pitched in affiliated baseball. In 2018, the Idaho native signed with the Texas Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of Division 2 Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) University, where he’d been primarily an outfielder but also moonlighted as a hard-throwing reliever.

The Rangers, impressed by his arm, assigned him to rookie ball. His debut came with little distinction (6.17 ERA in 11⅔ innings) as he started learning a pitcher’s routine. He felt he was throwing well in early 2019, but got derailed by injuries — including Tommy John surgery.

“I just couldn’t stay healthy,” he said.

By the time he was healthy enough to pitch in 2020, the minor league season had been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was among 37 players cut by the Rangers that summer. Any path forward would have to go through independent ball, resulting in stints with Boise (2021 and part of 2022), Billings (part of 2022), and Missoula (2023).

He had a 5.96 ERA in 2021-22, showing a live arm but little command. In 2023, he took a step forward, forging a 2.98 ERA in 54⅓ innings while showing mid- and upper-90s velocity and striking out 65, albeit with 32 walks. He also became comfortable with a changeup and displayed the makings of a slider.

It was noteworthy progress for someone still at the beginning of life as a full-time pitcher.

“I liked to tell people I’d been learning to pitch for five years and just kind of trying to put it together,” Penrod said. “I was able to find a secondary pitch and that allowed me to, instead of just being up there throwing, I was actually pitching and learning hitters.”

In summer 2023, the Sox were looking for innings in High A Greenville. Scout David Scrivines, who covers the indy leagues, had flagged Penrod as a pitcher they should monitor. Pitch data backed that assessment.

“We saw the makings of at least a three-pitch mix that we thought had the potential to play [against] both splits,” said Red Sox director of pro scouting Harrison Slutsky, who credited Scrivines, assistant director of pro scouting Mark Heil, and Shawn Haviland in player development as key voices in pursuing Penrod. “The command was a bit of a question mark at the time, but he had been starting and we saw some upside.”

In Greenville, that sense of possibility was quickly amplified. Penrod pitched so well (2.18 ERA in 20⅔ innings) that the Sox sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he posted the lowest ERA (1.29) by a starter and earned a spot in the Fall Stars showcase, where he threw a scoreless inning.

At the end of the AFL, Penrod took time to appreciate the drastic change of his trajectory.

“From the perspective of where I started, [2023 was] otherworldly,” said Penrod. “It was just crazy to go from deciding to be done at the end of the year if things didn’t go right to pitching in the Fall League and the Fall Stars Game, the championship game in Greenville. The emotions that brought was incredible.”

Now in Portland, Penrod has taken further steps. Through five starts, he has a 2.25 ERA with a 35 percent strikeout rate and, perhaps more importantly, a vastly improved 9 percent walk rate. He’s getting swings and misses with his fastball (which is averaging 94-95 and has topped out at 97), changeup, and slider — currently with better feel for the change but better grades on the slider.

He’s put himself on the map.

“I will say this: Penrod is a freaking dude,” said Teel. “When this guy doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s good. And when he has his best stuff, he’s unbelievable.”

The Sox still hope to see him make gains in strike-throwing and the consistency of his slider.

“We’ve just seen a guy who’s been able to get outs in the strike zone with power stuff and has continued to show that he can start,” said farm director Brian Abraham.

Some evaluators suggest Penrod has a chance to emerge as a back-of-the-rotation big league starter. Others feel he has a likelier path as a multi-innings bullpen arm. Either way, he has arrived at a moment of startling possibility considering how close he was 11 months ago to giving up on baseball.

“I think it’s crazy, but I’m just trying to enjoy every moment, because I do know how quickly it could end,” said Penrod. “I know because I’ve been there and I know how things go, especially being 26. The opportunity’s a little slimmer, so I’ve got to take advantage of the ones I get.”


Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.

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