Bringing the Wily Mo Pena

As a Red Sox fan I have watched many a frustrating at bat for Wily Mo Pena as he was rushed to the majors due to being mismanaged by the Cincinnati Reds.  He was all out of minor league options and rather than release him they watched him strikeout 33 percent of his at bats over four seasons before finally giving him to the Red Sox in the Bronson Arroyo trade.

After joining the Sox he still was forced to stay on the major league roster and continued to look confused at any breaking pitch and struck out in a third of his at bats.  He spent parts of the next three years bouncing around from the Nationals to the Mets and Padres before joining the Diamondbacks this year.

His start in Triple-A this year has reminded us why he had so much potential to just destroy the ball by hitting 21 home runs in only 271 plate appearances.  He also had his best BB/K rate at any level since reaching the majors in 2002.  He has built on this start with his first major league appearance Tuesday night since 2008 and hit a home run in his second at bat.

The power should not be a surprise.  With enough fastballs headed his way he was bound to still have 40 home run power.  The question is can his average and OBP be decent enough to make him worth playing in the majors and then on your fantasy team?

Hitting in Triple-A has been pretty consistent for Pena as his numbers have been solid with great SLG numbers.  The strikeouts are even manageable at 24 percent across all his Triple-A seasons.  That jump to 33 percent when at the major league level has been the big sticking point for Pena.

Something interesting for Pena the past two seasons in the minors he has walked at the highest rate of his entire career.  This is much more encouraging than the 20 percent strikeout rate.  We have seen the better contact before, but not the better patience and eye.

That is pretty encouraging and a sign he might finally be learning to lay off the breaking stuff he just can't handle.  I don't think Pena is going to suddenly at 29 years old become a regular everyday starter and swat home runs like he did in the minors, but getting a shot this week in the DH role he could get enough home runs to demand playing time.

I would take a shot right away in NL-Only and if you have an opening in a deep mixed league you could as well.  If you need home runs he's probably better than most of the mid season call ups you'll see in an average year.   Just to remind us he's still Wily Mo Pena Tuesday night he did strikeout twice.