Brad Penny

At 45 years old, Brad Penny has this physical status:

Bradley Wayne Penny (born May 24, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

Penny played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida / Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Detroit Tigers, as well as in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

In 2006 and 2007, he was an All Star.

Early life

Penny was born in Blackwell, Oklahoma. He attended Broken Arrow Senior High School, where he was selected All-State and Frontier Conference Pitcher of the Year.

Personal life

Penny first started dating professional dancer Karina Smirnoff in October 2009. They became involved in October 2010 but decided against it in December 2011.

Kaci Cook, a former Oklahoma City Thunder dancer, was subsequently courted by Penny. They became engaged in January 2013 and married in Hawaii on August 1, 2013.

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Professional career

He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 5th round of the 1996 MLB draft and signed with the Diamondbacks on June 4, 1996.

He was immediately sent to the Arizona Summer League, where he ranked fourth in the league in ERA (2.36) and was named Arizona's Organizational Pitcher of the Month in August. He was 10–5 with the South Bend Silver Hawks in 1997, a record of 2.73 in 25 starts.

He went 14–5 with a 2.96 ERA in 28 starts and was named to Baseball America's first team, the California Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year, and "A" Level Player of the Year in 1998.

He started the year with the El Paso Diablos at the Diamondbacks Double-Age level in 1999 and had a 4–7 record with a 4.80 ERA. He was traded to the Florida Marlins in exchange for relief pitcher Matt Mantei. In Portland, the Marlins had him assigned to their Double-A team. In his first game in the Marlins' organization, Penny combined with Luis Arroyo for the first no-hitter in Portland history.

Major League career

He joined the Marlins in 2000 after a good spring and began rotating in rotation. On April 7, 2000, he made his first MLB appearance and first appearance against the Colorado Rockies. Penny pitched seven innings, giving up only one run to win his first MLB victory in the Marlins' 4-3 win. He finished second among the NL rookies in winning percentage (.533), third in wins, tied for fourth with 22 games played, and sixth in both innings pitched (119+23) and strikeouts (80).

Penny pitched 205 innings for the Marlins in 2001. He went 10-10 in 31 attempts. Penny's ERA in 2002 was 4.66 in just 24 starts, despite injuries and ineffectiveness.

Penny bounced back in 2003, winning 14 games for the Marlins and assisting them in the playoffs. Penny won Florida's NLCS clinching victory over the Chicago Cubs and in the World Series against the New York Yankees, going 2–0 with a 2.19 ERA in his two starts.

Penny had an 8-8 record in 21 starts before being traded to the Dodgers in 2004.

Penny was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Guillermo Mota, Juan Encarnacion, and Paul Lo Duca on July 30, 2004. Hee-Seop Choi and pitching prospect Bill Murphy were swapped along with Hee-Seop Choi and pitching prospect Bill Murphy. However, he sustained a serious arm injury in his second game with the Dodgers, putting him on the disabled list. In September, he returned to work but soon retaliated after three innings in his first start off the DL. He missed the following season due to his injury, but he returned to the Dodgers on April 24, 2005, and he had a good season.

Penny signed a three-year contract extension on June 12, 2005, worth a guaranteed $25 million and a team option for the 2009 season.

In the 2006 Major League All-Star Game, Penny was named by Houston Astros manager Phil Garner as the National League's starting pitcher. In the first inning, he hurled two innings, allowing one home run to Vladimir Guerrero, throwing out the team (Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz) and resulting in a no-decision.

Penny joined the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 23, 2006, knocking out four batters in a single inning. Penny was credited with striking out Chad Tracy, but Tracy was allowed to run to first base after being thrown out by catcher Russell Martin, but he was able to get the ball cleanly before being thrown out. Penny made three more strikeouts to complete the four-strikeout innings despite giving up three runs in the inning.

In 2006, he hit the fastest fastball of all NL starters, averaging 93.9 miles per hour.

Penny got off to a good start to the season with a 3.03 record on the season, and was the first Dodger pitcher to start with a 12–1 record since Phil Regan went 14-1/1991. For the second year in a row, Penny was selected to the All-Star Game for the second year in a row. Penny had several memorable outings in 2007, including on May 7, 2007, against his former team, the Florida Marlins, who beat the Dodger 6-1. In a pitcher's duel against All-Star teammate Jake Peavy right before the All-Star break, San Diego Padres put on another spectacular display. Both pitchers went seven innings and gave up one earned run on five hits, resulting in a draw. Penny struck out seven people, while Peavy struck out six. In 12 innings, the Padres would win the game 3–1 in 12 innings. In 2007, he had the fastest fastball of all NL starters, clocking in at 93.4 mph.

Penny, in addition to being a hard throwing pitcher, has developed into a good hitting pitcher since being traded to the Dodgers. His batting average soared to.185 in 2006, but he was above.200 for the majority of the season and was as high as.240 before Penny ended the year in a 0 for 12 slump. In 2007, he batted.246 runs. Penny also had six doubles, seven RBI, and seven runs scored.

Penny was selected as the starting day starter against the San Francisco Giants in 2008, shutting them out over seven innings, but he didn't perform in 2008, going 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA and a stint on the DL. Penny made few appearances out of the bullpen in September, but then fell into the DL and returned to the DL. The Dodgers cut Penny from his option year after the season, making him a free agent.

Penny signed a one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox, earning a base salary of $5 million on January 9, 2009. To raise the total price by another $3 million, incentives and success bonuses were added.

Penny won his 100th game on June 17, 2009, against his former team, the Florida Marlins, in a five-inning effort that resulted in just one run. At Fenway Park, the Red Sox won for the fifth straight sellout.

Penny was 0–4 with a 9.11 ERA in his first five starts with the Red Sox in 2005. After a slow start against the rival Yankees, it was decided on August 22, 2009, that veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield would replace Penny in the rotation. Penny was put in the bullpen as insurance during Wakefield's August 26 start, but she was never deemedsafe with Wakefield pitching a strong seven-inning effort giving up only one run. With Wakefield getting off to a good start, reliever Billy Wagner being added to the roster, and Penny not wanting to be a reliever, the Red Sox allowed him to be released late that night. Penny's record during his Boston days was 7-08, with a 5.61 ERA.

After clearing waivers, Penny signed with the San Francisco Giants on August 31, 2009. The Giants received only the pro-rated portion of a $400k minimum salary (i.e. The Boston Red Sox earns the majority of his $5 million salary for the year, with the Boston Red Sox getting the majority. Penny won 4–0 over Philadelphia in his first innings. Penny was a natural performer in the National League, winning 4-2-1 in six starts for the Giants, demonstrating his versatility in the National League. He became a free agent after the season.

Penny agreed to a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals on December 10, 2009. During interleague play against the Angels on May 21, 2010, Penny earned his first grand slam to give his team an 8–4 lead. He was suspended for the next inning due to an injury and did not receive the victory. The injury was an exacerbation of a pre-existing oblique muscle strain that had put him on the disabled list for the remainder of the season.

Penny agreed to a one-year $3 million deal with the Detroit Tigers on January 18, 2011. Penny was reunited with former Marlins and Victor Martinez of the Red Sox after being called to the Tigers roster.

Penny's as the Tigers' top-two starter, behind Justin Verlander and in front of Max Scherzer, starting the season off right. Penny had a subpar first half of the season, going 6–6 with a 4.50 ERA in May, but after that success of Scherzer, Penny was promoted to the top-five in the rotation. After the All-Star break, Penny had a rough second half, going 5–5 with a 6.53 ERA. Overall, Penny's 5.30 ERA was the worst among qualified starters in 2011.

When the Tigers returned to the playoffs, he was recalled as a member of the bullpen. He appeared in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers, his first appearance in both the Division and Championship seasons, and pitched 1.2 innings while giving up 5 runs. The Tigers lost the game 15–5, which sent the Rangers to the World Series. In 7 games against the St. Louis Cardinals, Penny's former team.

Penny has agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on February 5, 2012.

However, Penny said he injured his elbow and five stolen bases in only 3+13 innings in his NPB debut game, but he refused to be dismissed from the game. He was immediately sent to the hospital and underwent two MRI exams (one in Fukuoka and another in the United States), but the results were not promising. On May 8, Penny was released from his employment a month later. He was a "huge disappointment," according to a local newspaper, signing Penny was "the hardest decision in franchise history."

Penny signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants on May 18, 2012. In his first game of the season, Penny met the Cincinnati Reds on June 30. He went 2.1 innings, giving up no runs and 0 earned runs while striking out 1 batter. He went 0-1 with a 6.11 ERA in 22 games this season.

On January 16, 2014, Penny signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals. He was first released on March 7.

Penny agreed to a minor-league deal with the Miami Marlins on June 18, 2014. He made his first appearance with the Cincinnati Reds on August 9, 2014.

Penny signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox on December 16, 2014. He failed to win a spot in Chicago's rotation and played with their Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, in the International League following a mixed spring training program in 2015 (1-1 record with a 6.89 ERA in 15.2 innings). On November 6, 2015, he was elected free agency.

Penny signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays on December 17, 2015, which also included an invitation to spring training. Penny resigned on March 18, 2016.

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