In the seventh inning of the Astros' win over the Cubs on Monday, shortstop Jeremy Peña made a great diving catch of a line drive off the bat of Cubs hitter Seiya Suzuki, got back on his feet and threw to first base to complete a double play. The ball had an exit velocity of 109 mph and a 65 percent hit probability, but none of that mattered to Peña.
Peña, the American League Gold Glove winner at shortstop last year as a rookie, was in the right place at the right time. And it wasn't happenstance. Because of his preparation, Peña had anticipated the pitch relief pitcher Rafael Montero was going to throw -- a sinker -- and knew where Suzuki was going to try to hit the ball.
"I knew he wanted to stay through the middle," Peña said. "I think it was a sinker pitch, so I knew he wasn't really going to roll it over. He wasn't going to pull it. It was either going to be hit at me, or to my left and I was already programmed to go either way."
Everyone learned about Peña's skills last year when, taking over for Carlos Correa, he won a Gold Glove, American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player and World Series MVP as a rookie. His big moments at the plate in last year's playoffs are well documented, but's he's an elite defensive player who still seems to be improving.
"This year, I feel more comfortable on defense," Peña said. "I feel like the game has slowed down a bit. Last year, I felt like the game was a little fast. This year, I feel like we just know the league a little better. You know who can run, you know how much time you have on a certain play. That's the biggest difference."
Peña put in the work, but he credits bench coach Joe Espada, first-base coach Omar Lopez and assistant director of player development and Minor League field coordinator Jason Bell with working with him in the offseason to put him in position to get better. The goal was to slow the game down, understand the hitters' tendencies.
"We do a lot of talking before the game starts of just going over some certain hitters, the speed of those certain hitters, understanding what our pitchers are trying to do more, so he understands the game plan," Espada said. "Credit goes to him. He's just paying attention and it's paying off. He's got all the skills and now he knows how fast he needs to play, how fast he needs to go finish every play."
So what's the next level for Peña's defense? Espada said it's finding some consistency.
"Not to be content," he said. "Complacency is something we don't like talking about at all. He's one of those guys that every day, he tries to get better."
