Offense is Coming Around For Slick-Fielding Jeremy Pena
Jeremy Peña Stats Have Houston Astros Shortstop On Pace to Set Career-High in Base Hits
Jeremy Peña
Jeremy Joan Peña
Houston Astros
3
26 years old
1.83 m
Dominican Republic
Shortstop
Former Gold Glove Winning Shortstop Jeremy Pena Has Astros On a Roll
Jeremy Pena has already won a World Series title with the Houston Astros as well as a gold glove and he won’t turn 27 until Sept. 22. The Jeremy Peña stats have Pena on pace to establish career-highs in hits and stolen bases.
Pena has been a part of playoff teams in each of his first two MLB seasons and with the way the Astros are playing, Houston has a chance to qualify for the postseason once again.
Pena is hitting .278 with 46 runs, 16 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. Pena’s .978 field percentage is a career-high as are his range factor per nine innings of 4.10 and 4.02 range factor per game.
Pena was selected in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of the University of Maine. Within four years, he was the starting shortstop for Houston following the departure of Carlos Correa.
The Astros opened a series against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday with Pena going 1 for 4. When making MLB best bets today, keep in mind that Pena is 6-for-23 against Miami in his three seasons with the Astros.
Houston is sixth at +1400 in the odds of winning the World Series.
Not Bad For Starters
While the Astros struggled early in the season, the same can’t be said for their shortstop.
Pena was batting .356 on April 20. He had at least two hits in eight of his first 19 games of the season.
After hitting .253 and .263 in his first two MLB seasons, it was hard to expect him to maintain that pace.
A quick look at Jeremy Peña stats, Pena hit .213 in June with almost as many strikeouts as hits.
He started to heat up in July with seven hits, seven runs, two doubles, two home runs, and six RBIs in his first five games in July to earn Player of the Week honors after driving in five runs in a three-game stretch.
Houston is 11-2 in the last 13 games when Pena had at least two hits.
No Platoon System Necessary
One of the most impressive aspects of Pena’s third MLB season might be that he has a .323 on-base percentage against right-handed batters and a .320 mark when facing lefties.
Five of his seven home runs came against righties but his slugging percentage and OPS numbers are higher against southpaws. As a rookie, he had significantly better splits against lefties. Something to consider when it comes to Jeremy Peña stats, when facing a lefty starter in 2022, he had a slugging percentage of .508 compared to a .379 mark versus right-handed starters. Last season, he hit nearly 100 points higher against lefties.
More of his at-bats have come when hitting fifth in the batting order after only batting fifth once during the 2023 season. He has also batted second, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth.
Pena typically hit either second or seventh as a rookie when he hit 22 home runs in 136 games.
Pena Is No Stranger to Pressure
The bigger the stage, the better Pena usually plays. That could bode well as the Astros look to win the American League West Division title for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, and could very well change MLB betting lines.
He made history back in 2022 to become the first rookie position player to be named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
He was also the American League Championship Series MVP that year. Among the players to win both awards are Dave Stewart, Orel Hershiser, Mariano Rivera, and David Ortiz.
Pena has a .286 career batting average in the postseason compared to a .263 mark in the regular season.
Nine of his 20 hits during Houston’s run to the 2022 World Series went for extra bases.
Astros Making Their Move
When looking at MLB standings, there were plenty of questions about what was wrong with the Astros earlier this season. That changed when Houston went 12-2 from June 19 to July 5. That included taking both games against the Baltimore Orioles and the first game in a series against Minnesota. Pena drove in two runs and scored a run in the second inning of a wild 13-12 win over Minnesota one day after hitting a home run in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
“I feel like the team has good vibes right now,” Pena told the media after the series finale against the Blue Jays. “Everyone is showing up with a job to do, which is show up, compete, and win the game. I feel like we’re all on the same page.”
Houston is now just two games behind the Seattle Mariners despite a 22-25 record on the road.
If the playoffs began today, Houston would be on the outside looking. However, Houston is in a better place than it was a month ago.
The Astros have a better chance of winning the division than earning a wild card as Boston has a 3.5-game lead on the Astros in the race for the final wild-card spot.
The Astros have six games left against the Mariners with a three-game series starting next week so things could get interesting in the race for the AL West team with it quite possible that only one team from that division could make it into the playoffs.
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