The Penny Is Heads Up!

Terry Francona, the manager of the Boston Red Sox, has officially named Brad Penny as the team's number five starter. Yesterday, Penny hit 96 MPH on his fastball and mixed in a decent splitter among his 79 pitches. If his shoulder holds up, he will be a huge plus for the team. Here's his pitching line...

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BOSTON

IP H R ER BB SO HR
B Penny 5 5 3 3 0 3 0
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Not a bad outing, and remember, he won't be pitching until April 12th, weather permitting. Here's what Boston Red Sox manager Terry "Tito" Francona had to say.

“He did what we wanted him to do,” Francona said. “We need to sit down and talk. That’s why I want to keep things open. Again, weather could get in the way.”“He’s all set,” the manager said. “Monday, on Opening Day, with the weather, who knows, things could change. We could need a fifth starter before April 12. We’ll stay flexible.”

Brad Penny, the man himself, had these words for the assembled masses...

“The arm strength is there. The velocity is there,” said Penny, whose 2008 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers was marred by shoulder trouble. "This whole camp, I’ve felt pretty good. There was no pain, and the velocity was there,” he said. “I think today was the best overall stuff I’ve had this spring. I got to let it go and be more aggressive with it, while at the same time working on my off-speed stuff.”

That's great news for that team from Boston. Spring training 2009 is over and the team will get down to business Monday afternoon at Fenway Park when they play the Devil Rays, who will be one of the three competing teams (NY & Boston) in the AL East. It might even be a log jam near the top of those standings. But we'll take it one day at a time, one game at a time, and hope the injuries are all behind us.

Thanks for your Friday visit...you can click on the title of this post for more Sox stuff, too. On a quick personal note, my girlfriend arrives at 2:45pm EDT today in Farmington, Connecticut. She's been on three different buses for the past day and a half and I feel for her. She leaves Philly at 8am and arrives in NYC, where she will change buses for the LAST time. Her next stop, with NO stops in between, is Farmington, my hometown. Sometimes she gets a little bothered when I watch the UCONN men and women basketball teams, and here she comes on Final Four weekend, but I told her it would all be over by Wednesday morning. Safe trip, my Nadi. To my Constant Readers, as always, BE WELL. Your comments are welcome and always answered. See ya.