NEW YORK - Former Northwest Nazarene standout baseball player and Nampa native Zach Penrod has become the first athlete in Northwest Nazarene baseball history to play in Major League Baseball, as he threw a scoreless eighth inning of relief for the Boston Red Sox in a 7-1 win over the New York Yankees on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Penrod was called up on Saturday morning from Triple-A Worcester, where he had been pitching since late May.
With the Red Sox ahead 7-1 in the eighth, Penrod entered the game in relief with no outs and Aaron Judge on second base. He then struck out the first two batters he faced, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. After an eight-pitch battle with Jasson Dominguez ended with a walk, Penrod got Anthony Rizzo to pop out to third base to end the inning and strand both runners.
Penrod, who played the 2018 season for the Nighthawks after transferring from Corban, has had a meteoric rise in his career over the last two years. After signing with the Rangers after his 2018 year in Nampa, he played one season of rookie ball before Tommy John surgery sidelined him and he missed the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2021, he signed with local the Pioneer League team, the Boise Hawks, before playing for the Billings Mustangs, also of the independent Pioneer League, in 2022. He started the 2023 season in the same league with the Missoula Paddleheads before signing a minor league contract with the Boston organization in August of 2023.
He finished the 2023 year at High-A Greenville and then started this 2024 season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. He was called up to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox at the end of May, where he has been prior to today's call-up. The 27-year-old has pitched in 22 games (12 starts) this season between Portland and Worcester, recording a 4.16 ERA in 62 2/3 innings with 93 strikeouts.
During his season at NNU, Penrod was named Second Team All-GNAC as an outfielder and pitcher, leading the team with a .369 average while registering 12 doubles, five homers, and 34 RBIs. On the mound, he made 13 appearances and four starts, registering a 1.89 ERA across 19 innings with 22 strikeouts.
