What is making Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros a favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year Award
We talked in this article about how Jeremy Peña’s career in Houston and Trevor Story’s start with the Colorado Rockies had very similar threads. However, Pena has made it clear in the very early stages of his career that he doesn’t want to be compared to anyone else at the shortstop position, and that includes Carlos Correa, who Peña has supplanted in Houston in an electric way.
Through his first 38 games (133 at-bats), Peña has paced the Astros in bWAR, earning 2.3, just ahead of Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander (each with 2.2). Much like Rodríguez, it took Peña some time to settle in at the plate, as he slashed just .222/.305/.458 in April (72 at-bats) before dialing it up to post a .377/.400/.557 slash line in May (61 at-bats). He has, however, balanced his power and production between the two months, hitting four home runs and driving in 10 in April and adding three homers and 12 RBI in May.
With his team leading the Los Angeles Angels by one game heading into Wednesday’s action, Peña’s abilities to blend in and contribute to a team that has every expectation to return to the World Series again this season will certainly not be discounted by AL Rookie of the Year voters.
Team standings, along with individual statistics, are just two of the things to keep an eye on as Peña and Rodríguez enter the Memorial Day weekend as the favorites to bring home the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
Key statistics to know
Through 38 games, Rodríguez is slashing an overall .293/.347/.504 and has accumulated 2.3 bWAR and a 148 OPS+