Brad Penny - Early Career

Early Career

Penny was born in Blackwell, Oklahoma. He graduated from Broken Arrow Senior High where he was an All-State selection and Frontier Conference Pitcher of the Year.

He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 5th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, and signed with the Diamondbacks on June 4, 1996.

He was immediately sent to the Arizona Summer League, where he ranked fourth in the league in ERA (2.36) and was named Arizona's Organizational Pitcher of the Month in August. With the South Bend Silver Hawks in 1997, he was 10–5 with an ERA of 2.73 in 25 starts.

In 1998, with the High Desert Mavericks, he went 14–5 with a 2.96 ERA in 28 starts and was named to Baseball America's first team Minor League All-Stars, the California League Pitcher of the Year, California League Most Valuable Player, Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year and "A" Level Player of the Year.

In 1999, he started the year with the El Paso Diablos at the Diamondbacks Double-A level, and had a 2–7 record with a 4.80 ERA when he was traded to the Florida Marlins along with Abraham Núñez and Vladimir Núñez in exchange for relief pitcher Matt Mantei. The Marlins assigned him to their Double-A team in Portland. Penny combined with Luis Arroyo for the first no-hitter in Portland history in his first game in the Marlins' organization on August 8.