Penny money in latest tune-up

Battling back from shoulder fatigue in 2008, Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny threw five innings on Thursday -- topping out in the mid-90s on the gun. He appears ready for his first start of the regular season.

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.

Fantasy Impact: I'm a huge fan of Penny when he's healthy, and so are the Red Sox. Winning the 5th starting spot in the Boston rotation means Penny edges out Clay Buchholz, who had thrown as well as anyone for Boston this spring. Buchholz will take his 2.52 spring ERA back to Triple-A.

Penny and Buchholz fight for 5th spot

The No. 5 slot in the Red Sox rotation is one of the team's biggest question marks, and it will continue to be with the improvement of Brad Penny from injury and Clay Buchholz from his former pitching self. Both Penny and Buchholz made strides on Tuesday. Penny threw 20 pitches without incident to live hitters while Buchholz threw three hitless innings, striking out two against the Orioles.

Pitching coach John Farrell said Penny and the Sox were “encouraged” by the performance. Penny has been working on strengthening his right shoulder after an injury-marred 2008 with the Dodgers and has been on a slower schedule than the other starters.

“The stuff that’s coming out of his delivery, the quality, velocity, better command - it was another positive step for him,” Farrell said after the session, which was observed by starters Josh Beckett [stats], Jon Lester [stats] and Tim Wakefield [stats].
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“That’s probably the most confident I’ve been that I can ever remember,” Buchholz said. “I definitely felt good, that was the best outing I’ve had in a long time.”

I like Buchholz' chances of making the team out of spring training, especially since we're one month from baseball and Penny is only throwing to live batters. He's got to get back into games to prove he can be trusted. This smacks of last year's Red Sox, when the team took injury-plagued Bartolo Colon and moved him to Triple-A to start the year. Buchholz struggled badly at the MLB level, eventually losing his spot in the rotation to Justin Masterson, among others. A year older, maybe he can keep the job this time.