Red Sox’s Pennington Finds Big Velocity

BOSTON—The start of 2014 represented a thrilling time in the life of Josh Pennington.

He embarked on the start of a senior high school season in Cape May, N.J., that seemed likely to feature a regular phalanx of scouts. The season, however, lasted just two starts. In warming up for his third outing, dread filled the young righthander.

“I knew,” Pennington said. “It was immediate. I walked to my catcher and was like, ‘I just blew my elbow out.’ ”

Even with the understanding that he’d require Tommy John surgery, Pennington continued to meet with scouts who remained intrigued by the potential he had shown earlier in his prep career. Ultimately, he decided that he would benefit from a chance to rehab under the auspices of a major league organization, and when the Red Sox took him in the 29th round, Pennington jumped at the chance to sign for $90,000.

“I knew there was still a chance I’d get taken, but there’s always a chance that you won’t, given that I was a high school guy who still needed Tommy John surgery,” said Pennington, 21. “It was a very, very, very stressful time, but once my name was called, it was the happiest moment of my life.”

Pennington sat 90-92 mph and touched 94 before his injury. In his first outing of 2015, he peaked at 96 and regularly showed mid-90s velocity while forging a 0.82 ERA in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He struck out 22 and walked 13 in 22 innings.
This year, his velocity sits in the mid- to high 90s at short-season Lowell, with a power curveball that he’s been able to use for swings and misses along with a developing changeup.

“I’ve dreamt of throwing this hard,” said Pennington, who went recorded 28 strikeouts and 16 walks through 29 innings. “Now throwing this hard and being able to have the secondary stuff that I still do, I can’t be more blessed to have that happen to me.”

SOX YARNS

• First-round prep lefthander Jason Groome signed with the Red Sox for $3.65 million, the largest signing bonus for a draft pick in franchise history.

• Top prospect Yoan Moncada had his first multi-homer game on July 18 at Double-A Portland. All 11 of the switch-hitter’s regular-season homers in 2016 have come lefthanded, though he did launch his Futures Game homer batting righthanded.