Over the couse of the 2006 season, still in its early stages, we’ve had the chance to watch Wily Mo Pena and dissect whether or not the trade to acquire him was a good move or not. It certainly tilts in Arroyo’s favor, as he is 5-0 with a 2.06 ERA, but I firmly feel that not only would he have been the Arroyo of old in Boston, but the move to the NL and the determination to prove Boston wrong is factoring into his hot start, but that we still made the right move – the move that made sense at the time.
Wily Mo Pena just finished up a three-hit game on Thursday, and as I write this, has not hit yet against Josh Towers, but considering Towers is 0-5 with an ERA north of 10.00, I feel confident he’ll get at least one hit tonight. Pena has been given more consistent playing time, for Dustan Mohr and Willie Harris don’t seem to know what the wooden object in their hands is. Pena’s hit for a season line of .309/.361/.564 in 55 AB (before Thursday’s game) [UPDATE: he went 2/4 with an RBI Thursday against the Jays]. Wily Mo Pena is pacing to log 426 AB (which won’t happen because Coco Crisp will be returning … but you never know … Manny, Papi, or Nixon could go down with injury) with 23 HR and 70 RBI, similar to his 2004 numbers with CIN. He had 336 AB in 2004 for a line of .259/.316/.527 with 23 HR and 66 RBI.
I’ve been seeing increased improvement from watching Pena’s at bats. I keep seeing Pena look more towards getting a hit rather than a sky-scraping home run. I’ve seen an improvement in Pena in recognizing pitches and laying off the bad ones. The close-your-eyes-and-swing-like-Vlad swings are decreasing from when they first 360-windmilled their way into Boston. In the field, he’s become more consistent as he’s gotten used to the dimensions at Fenway, and that in large part is due to his work ethic, as he’s worked to learn the field.
“Center field, it’s a little more easy here,” said Pena, who was 3-for-4 last night with two RBI and again was solid in the field. “Right field, when the ball hits the corner . . .”
He still works out every day at both positions. One day, he ran out to the Green Monster to take some fly balls in left, but “they waved me away, back toward center.”
“Right field, you just have to learn to play it,” Pena said. “(First base coach Bill Haselman) hits ground balls down into the corner, and I just like to see how it moves. Sometimes I pick it up, sometimes I just watch it to see how it rolls. And I talk to Trot a lot. He’s been playing there for so many years. And a day game, in right field, it is difficult, the sun.” [HERALD]
Trot Nixon’s going to be 35 next year and hasnt played a full season since 2002. 134 (hurt all of September) in 2003, 48 in 2004, 124 in 2005, and 21 so far this year where he missed about a week due to injury. It would be nice to bring him back, but we all know by now Theo has no heart. Is it possible Pena becomes our starting right fielder next year? Right now it is possible, but it’s not probable. We’re going to have to see continued improvement in right field. It takes a while to get comfortable there – it’s a second center-field, but it’s tougher because of the sun and the wall, but if he keeps showing the want to improve, then I can’t see why we wouldn’t install him in right next year, especially if he starts taking more walks. I’m sure he’ll never be as prolific as Mark Bellhorn in taking walks, but then again, Bellhorn never had and does not have the potential to bash 50+ home runs a year.
His steadily improving at-bats have not hurt his cause, but the return of Trot Nixon (groin) and continued absence of center fielder Coco Crisp (broken finger) have allowed the Sox to play him at a position better suited for him at the time being.
That is where Pena’s athleticism comes into play. For someone who bears more resemblance to Lawrence Taylor than a prototypical center fielder, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Pena is more lightfooted and quick than one might think.
“I look too big to play center field, but I can run a little bit,” said Pena, whose career fielding percentage after 94 starts in center is .985, much better than the .966 he’s registered in 110 starts in right. [HERALD]
I asked Reds and Blues writer Scott Slonaker (head over there and bookmark it, it’s a great resource to read up on the Cincinatti Reds – and check out his view on Bronson Arroyo) to give me sort of a scouting report on Pena. I cited his improving at-bats, his defense, his patience, among other things. He said:
It was the opinion of the Reds media, etc. that his defense was bad enough that it would never improve, although a lot of his problems stemmed from his awful contract and the way he had to spend so much time on the bench, etc. If he were stuck in an outfield corner and left there every single day, he would improve, but Boston’s not the team to do that between Ramirez and Nixon and Ortiz so I honestly don’t think Pena will have a chance to become Sammy Sosa or whatever until he’s gone from Boston. Pena’s main problem is playing only half the time in 2006. Even if he puts together 250 solid ABs, I’d still trade him to Kansas City or Washington somewhere for a big bundle of prospects. And this whole “patience” thing? I wouldn’t get too excited yet. Pena has stretches where he’ll be 1-2-3-sit down…the ten-second, no-contact at-bat. He does work the count sometimes, but his plate discipline has only improved a small amount since his rookie season. I believe that Ramirez and Ortiz could have an impact, given that he probably can’t take a lot of instruction from American coaches (speaks poor English), but I doubt it.
Time will tell what Pena turns into, and where, but perhaps that quote above can temper our enthusiasm and stop us from thinking he’s turned the corner. If he keeps up the 0.60 Isolated Eye, then that’s excellent. If he can raise his batting average and retain his power, then we’ve got a find on our hands. Until then, he’s best suited as a fourth outfielder. Once Crisp comes back, Pena needs to vault ahead of Harris/Mohr to become a fourth outfielder, covering all three positions and DHing when giving Ortiz rest. Pena should still log time in right as Nixon’s platoon partner, but so far in 30 AB, Pena is hitting .433/.452/.767 v. righties. Against lefties, he’s at .160/.267/.320. At least he’s exercising patience against lefties, and the power should eventually come. Then again, even if these splits are permanent, we’ve found another Trot Nixon, except with much more power. That’s not a bad thing.
I don’t know if you remember, but back when Mo Vaughn was with the Red Sox, the CITGO sign behind the Green Monster had a billboard under it that said “SAYS GO MO!” … “CITGO SAYS GO MO!” Well…
