Brad Penny released by Royals after punching wall in anger
Brad Penny was released Friday by the Royals, and two reports note that part of the reason was that they were unimpressed with him injuring himself by punching a wall in frustration.
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
MORE: Spring Training | Scoreboard | FA tracker: position players | FA tracker: pitchers
The Royals released pitcher Brad Penny Friday, in a move that appears to have been two-fold.
First: Performance-based. Penny was a longshot to make the roster anyway, given that he'll be 36 this May and hasn't been productive for a full season since 2007. So he'd need to pitch well to have a shot. Through two outings, he's been knocked around the yard to the tune of 13 hits -- including two home runs -- and seven earned runs in four innings.
Of course, it would be pretty rare for a team to pull the plug after four spring innings. So the second reason? Hmm ...
One reason Brad Penny was released: He injured his non-throwing hand punching a wall on Thursday, source says.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) March 7, 2014
My understanding is #royals weren't happy with wall punching incident, and it contributed to Penny's release.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) March 7, 2014
On the bright side, at least Penny learned quite well from Crash Davis' advice to never punch with one's pitching hand.
[Obligatory note: Crash told Nuke when you get in a fight with a drunk at a bar to not punch with your pitching hand, but we can apply this to the wall, too, if for no other reason than to continue to spread Crash's gospel].
Still, an injury via punching the wall isn't a good look for anyone -- let alone a 35-year-old, 13-year veteran.
Penny had a 6.11 ERA (58 ERA+) and 1.82 WHIP in 28 relief innings for the Giants last season. He was an All-Star in 2006 and 2007 and finished third in NL Cy Young voting in '07. Since then, though, he has a 5.16 ERA (82 ERA+) in 533 1/3 innings.
