Two players in two days! First, Rafael Soriano called it a career before even reporting to camp, and today the Blue Jays lost another man to a world beyond baseball.
After giving up 5 runs in a split squad game Thursday, rhp brad penny told Jays he's retiring
— mark zwolinski (@markzwol) March 18, 2016
Brad Penny is retiring.
Unlike Rafael Soriano, Brad Penny never really had a chance to make the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays. Heck, you’d be forgiven if you weren’t even aware that he was still pitching. He hadn’t thrown an inning in the major leagues since 2014, and hadn’t topped 30 innings since 2011. So really, it was probably the time to go for the soon-to-be 38 year-old sinkerballer.
Of course, it wasn’t always like this for Penny. Once upon a time he was actually a valuable big league starter. In fact, in 2007, he finished 3rd in NL Cy Young voting after posting a 16-4 record and a 3.03 ERA. And during a four year stretch from 2004-2007, Penny had a 3.61 ERA for the Dodgers and Marlins. Unfortunately, injuries began to take their toll on the tall righty, and his once elite velocity began to disappear. His overall career numbers are those of a league average or slightly worse starter, with a 4.29 ERA, 4.75 DRA, and 18.4 career WARP, but for the last eight or nine years, Penny has been a mediocre or worse depth piece.
Oddly, he actually may have had a real impact on the Blue Jays in his brief time in Dunedin. When I spoke with Marco Estrada last week, he told me that he has been toying with a sinker grip that he learned from Mr. Penny. It’s an underrated and underreported aspect of these types of deals, but these players do learn from one another. We’ll see how much Estrada really uses that sinker, but if it becomes a weapon that even gets him out of one tough situation, then the Brad Penny signing was a good one.
So thank you for your ever so brief time in Toronto, Brad. Enjoy retirement!
Lead photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports