What a way to make your Red Sox debut, but to try and stop a 3 game losing streak. That is exactly what the Sox are asking out of Penny. As he makes his first start for the Red Sox. He will be opposed by the Angels ace Joe Saunders. Penny has #1 quality stuff when healthy, and if he can return to form from two years ago he will be a tremendous bottom of the rotation pitcher.
However, Penny was pitching in the National League for his two great years for the Dodgers, and in the weak division of the NL West. So there is no guarentees that he is gonna walk right into a new league and just dominant; especially with his health problems prior to the season. If all his pitches are working, having a dominant fastball up to 95-96 mph he will be tough to hit. The Red Sox need him to be effective and go deep into this game; since the Beckett opening day start the bullpen has been taxed. As for the effectiveness he has to keep the Red Sox in the game, and not let the Angels score first. That really puts the Sox in a hole and that has been the case during this 3 game losing streak. Allowing the opposing team to stike first puts more pressure on the bats in the lineup and to go away from their game plan.
But the Red Sox during this skid have not exactly been hitting the ball all over the place; outside of maybe Kevin Youkilis who is on a tear. Other than that no one has really had a great start offensivly. That needs to change in order for the Sox to even have a chance to win. It may be all about pitching. But sooner rather than later they have to score more runs and score them earlier to put their starting pitcher in a comfortable position where he can attack the hitter.
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