the dominican Jeremy Pena captivated the public Big leagues after becoming the main architect of the postseason for the champions Houston Astros in his rookie year, time in which he also recorded a pleasant regular round that earned him a Gold Glove award and place among the five finalists for Rookie of the Year.
This first experience was full of challenges.beginning by exceeding the expectations around him of being a prospect with the label of not being able to fail, as well as finding himself in a situation that assigned him the responsibility of occupying the position left vacant by Carlos Correa – who was a bulwark for the organization in what had been its most competitive stage until 2022.
The wonderful start in shortstop Peña’s career deserves everyone’s recognition, although things should not stop there and, in search of consecration as a major leaguer, several details of his game must change to take the next step. The level of talent that goes along with it is undeniable, which is why expecting it to solve what is seen as a deficiency is realistic.
Smarter swing decisions
It is highly probable – not to guarantee – that the right-handed hitter is the main one aware that his discipline at the plate must be polished, in the same way as everything related to this section.
Calming anxiety will be crucial in Peña’s future, showing that he ended up swinging at the first pitch 47.3% of the time, as well as trying to hit 37.8% of the pitches that traveled outside the strike zone. It was worse than average in both cases. And in another box, to his disappointment, he went with the breeze on 29.7% of his hitting targets.
Precision reading against breakers
Strengthening enemies can be quite expensive, which ultimately happened to Peña’s detriment during the interim regular season. Pitchers are aware of how much they can take advantage of the youngster’s lack of productivity against broken pitches, as well as how much he punishes fastballs.
The pitchers made big gains from Peña’s short service time, who received 51.6% of pitches against him in the form of breaking ground or slow-speed pitches, hitting just .227 against them. Otherwise, he posted a career-high .283 against fastballs.
This section is correlated with the previous one, since the bankrupts are mostly those who end up outside the zone and those with high percentages of fans. Thus, it is established that both the reading of the pitches and discipline must be improved, because neither is without the other.
Take advantage of all the terrain
The Astros don’t need the Dominican to be the main slugger in their lineup, seeing that for that they have Yordan Álvarez, Kyle Tucker or José Abreu, the latter acquired in the offseason. Peña, as a high-ranking hitter, must ensure a more dynamic offense, although the extra-base hits are still important. Expanding your range of contact is vital.
The 25-year-old hit .364 when he drove the ball the other way, but only 22.7% of his hits came that way. Pulling the ball is a benefit to him, giving him a better chance of getting hits and becoming a tougher nut for the opposition to crack.
Pena is on his way to stardom — top-tier defensive skills and rising power — so getting better at those points will help his cause.
