When the Astros lost the services of Carlos Correa in free agency, I wasn’t necessarily pessimistic about the future of the shortstop position. I possessed reasonable confidence that Jeremy Peña would eventually become — at worst — a league-average shortstop, thanks to his already strong defense. That is a solid foundation to build upon. But with only 133 plate appearances above Single-A, the pressing question in the offseason was whether his bat would be ready for major league pitching in 2022. While he made impressive gains at the plate during his lone season in Triple-A, he was relatively untested.
Jeremy Peña’s Offensive Ceiling Is Capped By Chasing Breaking Pitches
