Jeremy Pena broke through in the spring of the 2022 season, as the Houston Astros prepared him to be Carlos Correa‘s replacement.
He was drafted in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and the team patiently waited for him to develop.
More importantly, he patiently waited for an opportunity and worked on his game these last few years.
He got one in 2022 and had a good, albeit inconsistent regular season.
His 22 home runs, 11 stolen bases, and excellent defense at short were worth giving him the time he needed to settle in.
Fortunately for the Astros, he settled in…during the playoffs.
He became a hero in Houston with an amazing postseason performance.
A Cool “New Job”
Now that the season is over, Pena decided to surprise some fans.
“@astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (@Jpena221) works the drive-through at the @raisingcanes on the Gulf Freeway with his fans going nuts. They began lining up here at 9am yesterday to get a chance to meet the MVP of the ALCS and the World Series,” MLB insider Mark Berman tweeted.
.@astros shortstop Jeremy Peña (@Jpena221) works
the drive-through at the @raisingcanes on the Gulf Freeway with his fans going nuts. They began lining up here at 9am yesterday to get a chance to meet the MVP of the ALCS and the World Series. pic.twitter.com/zUMsIn5cIE— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) November 14, 2022
You can see Pena always has a smile on his face: that helps him captivate fans and bring happiness to people.
It’s always nice to see such a high-profile athlete take away some of his time to make people happy.
For as good as he was in the postseason – he earned MVP honors in the Championship Series and the World Series – Pena still has some extra potential.
For example, his regular season OBP was .289: he needs to improve it.
Every other part of his game is extremely impressive: power, defense, arm, poise, demeanor…he has it all.
He can be an MLB star for a long time.
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