Equipped with a new swing, Pe?a looks to regain his power stroke
Brian McTaggart
@brianmctaggartWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The overhaul of his batting stance began only a week into the offseason. Jeremy Peña, coming off a breakout rookie season in 2022, saw his power stroke disappear in the second half of last season -- a puzzling development which overshadowed an otherwise solid season at the plate.
Pe?a, who split time between Houston and his native Dominican Republic this winter (as well as a trip to the Marucci Sports¡¯ baseball performance lab in Baton Rouge, La., just before Spring Training), reported to camp with a new stance and a new outlook. The goal was to limit his movement in the box and return to driving the ball to the outfield.
¡°He looks comfortable in the box. He looks athletic,¡± Astros manager Joe Espada said. ¡°I think he¡¯s using the whole field, hitting the ball in the air more with power and I really like where he¡¯s at early in camp. It¡¯s more efficient and that¡¯s exactly what he¡¯s shown in the last couple of weeks [while working out prior to camp] in Houston.¡±
Pe?a took over at shortstop for Carlos Correa in 2022 and slashed .253/.289/.426 (.715 OPS) with a 102 OPS+, 222 total bases, 22 homers and 63 RBIs. He came up huge in Houston¡¯s run to the World Series title and took home MVP honors in the American League Championship Series and World Series and won a Gold Glove
With expectations soaring entering 2023, Pe?a took a jump in some areas and regressed in others. He posted a 263/.324/.381 slash line with a 95 OPS+ and 220 total bases last year -- numbers not too far off from his rookie season. He also drastically improved his walk rate and cut down on strikeouts just a bit.
¡°I felt like my swing decisions improved,¡± he said. ¡°I felt more patient, seeing the ball a little better. Now it¡¯s all kind of mixing it all together and then adding some things on top of that.¡±
The area in which he regressed the most was his power production. Pe?a clubbed just 10 homers, including none after July 5, a span of 351 plate appearances including the postseason. Pena¡¯s groundball rate began to skyrocket in June and didn¡¯t recover. Here¡¯s the breakdown of his contact from before and after his final homer of ¡¯23:
Groundball %:
Through July 5: 50.4%
July 6 to end of season: 58.5%
Flyball %:
Through July 5: 21.2%
July 6 to end of season: 16.5%
Barrel %:
Through July 5: 6.2%
July 6 to end of season: 1.8%
¡°It is what it is,¡± Pe?a said. ¡°It¡¯s in the past already. I¡¯m not really going to think about it much more. I already kind of broke down my season like a week into the offseason. I built a plan to work on in the offseason and now it¡¯s a new year. Now we move forward.¡±
Pe?a¡¯s new stance was on full display during a round of live batting practice Monday against Astros relievers Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly. Gone is Pe?a¡¯s bat wag; he now instead rests the bat on his shoulder. His toe tap with his left foot has been replaced with what he calls more of a hover.
¡°I¡¯m starting the bat from a still position on my shoulder, but I¡¯m still doing some kind of movement with the hands as I¡¯m going,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not completely getting rid of the wag, it¡¯s just kind of controlling it a little bit more.¡±
Pe?a said he wanted to simplify things and be a little more consistent with his positions. He said he feels he¡¯s putting the barrel on the ball more consistently and the ball is ¡°having true spin,¡± instead of him slicing or topping it.
¡°It felt good, it felt calm, it felt under control,¡± he said after Monday¡¯s live batting practice. ¡°That¡¯s the whole goal behind this, to start from a position where I feel comfortable, and I can build off that. Now that I tried it in [live BP], I¡¯m going to keep working off of that.¡±
As well as things have gone so far, Pe?a is still in the infancy stage with his new stance. When asked if it felt natural yet, he said, ¡°Natural and comfortable would be my batting stance last year. That¡¯s what¡¯s been natural. This feels like the right thing and it¡¯s something I¡¯m going to keep working on and keep ingraining into my swing.¡±