A fortuitous set of circumstances has enabled Pawtucket Red Sox pitcher Tony Pena Jr. to continue re-inventing himself as a pitcher and thus given him a chance to attain a dream that at one time seemed impossible: to follow in the footsteps of his well-known father, catcher Tony Pena (the Yankees bench coach) who enjoyed immense success with the Pirates, Cardinals and Red Sox, and play in the major leagues.
PawSox pitching coach Rich Sauveur served in that capacity for Pena the elder during the off-season for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League.
“I called Boston when I had him in the Dominican and said I liked the way he was throwing the ball,” said Sauveur. “I recommended Boston sign him (which it did as a minor league free agent) and I said I’d like to have him in Pawtucket and be able to work with him because he hasn’t had that much time pitching.
“I did feel at some point he could help our bullpen up there. I honestly think one day he’ll play in the big leagues.”
Pena Jr., who converted to pitching from playing shortstop midway through the 2009 season while with Kansas City, certainly hasn’t done anything to counter Sauveur’s opinion.
In 19 relief appearances through July 23, he was 4-3 with three saves plus a 3.48 ERA.
In six starts through the same date, he was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA. And on July 21, he pitched arguably his best game of the season, allowing only two runs on four hits during a season-high seven innings against Lehigh Valley.
Pena Jr. left that game with a 2-1 lead and was deprived of the victory when Pawtucket’s bullpen imploded which led to a 5-4 Iron Pigs triumph.
“I’m not going to say it’s the easiest thing (converting from being a position player to a pitcher),” said Sauveur who knows full well that Joe Nathan and Trevor Hoffman began their careers as shortstops. “I’ve got to say it’s easier than converting from a pitcher to a position player like Rick Ankiel. You watch him and you see it’s very effortless.
“He’s got good stuff. Like I said, I saw him in winter ball which is the reason he’s here.”
Pena Jr., like Ken Griffey Jr., had the benefit of growing up in a baseball atmosphere.
“It was great to be able to have the opportunity to be around a lot of great players,” he said. “Growing up in a clubhouse was a great feeling as a kid. When you’re growing up and hanging around guys like Roger Clemens and Manny Ramirez … afterwards it was like ‘Wow! That was fun.’”
Indeed.
The flip side of that coin is that it isn’t always easy to follow in the footsteps of a renowned pro athlete as opposed to a father who’s in a non-sports profession.
“I’m always going to have that shadow of my dad,” said Pena Jr. “We always talked about it. My primary example was in winter ball while playing for my home town (Santiago, D.R.) and he played there his entire career. I’ll always have that shadow of him.
“Fans are always going to expect a little more from you because you’re the son of Tony Pena. When I’m out there, I try to do my best. Every day it’s a learning process to be able to live with it. For my dad and me, I just try to give 100 percent. Whatever the outcome is, I can’t control it.”
In a sense what Pena Jr. was unable to control was the influence he absorbed by osmosis from having grown up watching stellar shortstops like Ozzie Smith, Omar Vizquel and Ozzie Guillen.
“There were a bunch of great shortstops when I was growing up,” said Pena Jr. “It was great to be around guys like that. Growing up, I played shortstop and pitched.”
But playing shortstop was the path he followed when he signed with the Braves, who eventually traded him to the Royals prior to the 2007 season.
“I had some struggles offensively,” said Pena Jr., who in 327 Major League games with Atlanta and Kansas City, only hit .228 with four homers and 66 RBI. “I thought I could have come back if I could have continued playing short but (Kansas City) felt I had a better chance of pitching.
“I remember once we had a blowout game and I came in to pitch against the Tigers. I pitched a 1-2-3 inning and struck out a batter (in 2007). I made the team out of spring training the next year. But in the 10th game of the season, I broke my left hamate bone. I came back in three weeks and couldn’t get a rhythm after that.
“We played our last series before the All-Star break against the Red Sox,” added Pena Jr. “Then, they put me on waivers and asked me if I wanted to try pitching after the 10 days elapsed.”
Since Kansas City’s 40-man roster was full and he knew he wasn’t going to play every day, he plunged head-first into pitching.
“I went through winter ball and pitched well and I had more teams interested in me as a pitcher than as a shortstop,” he said.
Pena Jr. then commenced an odyssey that took him to the Giants (he split last season between Double A Richmond and Triple A Fresno) and this season with the Red Sox.
“He’s got a well-disguised fastball,” said Sauveur. “He doesn’t look like he throws hard but his fastball, from that sidearm slot is anywhere from 90 to 93 at times. I think that’s going to be his number one weapon.
“He throws a two-seamer probably 75 percent of the time. And he mixes in a slider and a changeup. He started off the season struggling. But it was a minor tweak here and there and we got him going again (case in point: Pena Jr. blanked Buffalo on two hits over five innings on July 9).
“He started off really bad with about a nine ERA and then he had it down below three,” continued Sauveur. “Now it’s 3.34 and he’s been throwing the heck out of the ball.”
Even though Pena Jr. is 30 years old, Sauveur feels he isn’t necessarily at the crossroads of his career.
“Does he have a 30-year-old body,” queried Sauveur. “I don’t think so. He doesn’t look 30 and he hasn’t been pitching long. To me, I think he’s fine. I think scouts will like what they see and, hopefully, Boston likes what they see.
“He really has an electrifying fastball. If his off-speed stuff is working, he can break some bats.”
Which might open a door at the major league level.ton