In my previous post, I mentioned Hayden Penn had better get used to the idea of Norfolk and today he and 4 others were sent there.
Joining him were Brandon Fahey (a longshot to make the club even if he had hit well), Rob Bell (sporting a sub-1.00 ERA this spring), Kurt Birkins and Jon Leicester.
Penn didn't pitch badly this spring but didn't knock anyone's socks off either. With the emergence of Jeremy Guthrie as a long man candidate didn't help Penn's case either. It's nice that the club doesn't have to rush him and he will go take care of business in Norfolk. We'll see him Baltimore, in some capacity, this season.
Kurt Birkins had a nice spring and it's a but surprising to see the lefty reliever sent down at this point. The club has floated the idea of carrying 13 pitchers and Birkins would've been thought to be in the mix as a second lefty (behind Jamie Walker) out of the pen. Looks like that will be Todd Williams domain. (shudder...)
Brandon Fahey would've needed some injuries in front of him to get a spot this year. Rob Bell pitched great this spring but was a real long shot given his abysmal performance over the course of his major league career. Jon Leicester was basically signed for depth and was expected to go the Norfolk all along.
Keep your head up Hayden, they'll be calling you up before you know it.
2 comments:
I think going to Norfolk is the best thing for Penn. Give him a couple months down there and at that point whether by injury or lack of performance, there could be a spot towards the back end of the rotation open. There's no need to rush him again.
I don't disagree at all.
It'll be intersting to see how mature he is, how he handles it. There is no reason he should not dominate in AAA. Hopefully, he is not too discouraged and let it affect his performance.
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