Mike Krukow, half of the Giants' broadcast team, said it best about Brad Penny in the seventh or eighth inning of the pitcher's debut with San Francisco on Wednesday night: He was able to do anything he wanted to do with the baseball.
Penny had a great breaking ball. He was throwing hard, in the 95-97 mph range, at a time when some talent evaluators believe Penny cannot win with 92-94 mph because his fastball is too straight. He was able to spot the ball.
Was it because he was back in the National League?
Not necessarily, because while the NL lineups are much weaker across the board, Penny was facing the Phillies, who went into the game first in the majors in home runs in their home ballpark. Philadelphia's lineup could rival that of any AL team. It wasn't as if Penny succeeded because he was able to use the pitcher's spot to work through trouble Wednesday night.
Was it because Penny was very rested, taking the ball after
11 days off? Perhaps that had something to do with it.
Was it because Penny is joining the Giants with a major competitive chip on his shoulder? Could be. He wants to stick it to the Dodgers, and maybe he wants to show the Red Sox they made a mistake, and maybe he knows he could set himself up for a better deal in 2010 if he has a strong finish to 2009.
Whatever the reason, Penny was tremendous against the Phillies, completely in control of the game from the outset, and while the Giants might be offensively challenged and are without
Freddy Sanchez and
Bengie Molina, they undoubtedly have the best starting pitching of any of the NL West contenders. We'll see if that's enough.
Others were watching: Penny
was brilliant, writes Andrew Baggarly. He knows his new manager
used to mess with him, as Henry Schulman writes.
Why Penny won, from Matt Lyon and Mike Landrigan of ESPN Stats & Information:
- Ninety percent of two-strike at-bats became outs (MLB average is 72 percent).
- Sixteen of the 28 hitters he faced (57 percent) had plate appearances of three pitches or less (MLB average is 47 percent).
- The Phillies' batters missed on half of their out-of-zone swings (4-of-8). Opponents had missed on only 25.6 percent of out-of-zone swings against Penny entering Wednesday.
On the other side,
J.A. Happ fell flat against the Giants.
A Buster emerges
Buster Posey was
promoted to the big leagues Wednesday, and we in the fraternity are oddly proud of this. Most Busters I know are dogs or cats or some other domestic pet, so it's good to have one of us back in the majors.
For Buster Olney's insight into Mariano Rivera's Cy Young chances, a deal for Johnny Damon and Kenny Williams' silence, plus tons of other news, injury updates and trade talk, you must be an ESPN Insider. 
To continue reading this article you must be an Insider
Buster Olney
