Roberto Peña (minors)

From BR Bullpen

Roberto A. Peña

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 250 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Roberto Peña has reached AAA (playing his 4th season there in 2019) and has been on the Puerto Rican national team. His father Bert Peña played in the majors.

Peña was taken by the Houston Astros in the 7th round of the 2010 amateur draft, one round after they took Adam Plutko and one round before Jake Buchanan. The scouts were Greg Brown and Joey Sola. [1] He played that summer for the GCL Astros (.256/.294/.333 in 23 G), Greeneville Astros (.191/.224/.213 in 12 G) and Lexington Legends (3 for 16, 2B), gunning down 44% of would-be base-stealers. Baseball America named him the best defensive catcher in the Houston system. [2]

He spent 2011 with Lexington, hitting .217/.266/.310. He caught 39% of runners. Baseball America again ranked him as the best defender behind the dish among Houston farmhands. [3] They did not name him the best defensive prospect in the South Atlantic League, which they gave to Christian Vazquez. [4] He was 1 for 4 that fall for the Salt River Rafters and 3 for 7 with a double and a walk for the Criollos de Caguas.

In 2012, he was with Lexington (.245/.278/.327 in 61 G) and the Lancaster JetHawks (.213/.259/.397 in 21 G). Baseball America again listed him as the top defensive catcher in the chain. [5] He batted .188/.220/.292 for Caguas that winter, splitting catching with Ramón Castro and Johnny Monell. He gunned down an amazing 52% for the '13 Quad Cities River Bandits while posting a .249/.297/.354 batting line for the Midwest League champs. He did not win the best defensive catcher honor from Baseball America, which picked Luke Maile as the MWL's elite defender there. [6] He was 6 for 34 with 3 doubles and two walks for Caguas in 2013-2014.

Roberto had another superb season gunning down runners (57%) for the 2014 champion JetHawks with 13 homers and a .249/.306/.414 line at the plate. He led California League backstops in putouts (755), double plays (9), fielding percentage (.996) and caught stealing percentage. [7] He was named the league's All-Star catcher. [8] Baseball America tabbed him as the league's top defender. [9] He also won a Rawlings Gold Glove. [10]

The Caguas native threw out 48% for the 2015 Corpus Christi Hooks though his offense fell to .237/.284/.288. His nine double plays led Texas League catchers. [11] Baseball America rated him the league's top defensive catcher. [12] He took time off to play for Puerto Rico in the 2015 Pan American Games, hitting .148/.148/.259 with one homer as their main backstop and also playing a couple games at first base. He had no errors in seven games and caught the only one who tried to steal. [13] That winter, he hit .143/.217/.190 in 16 games for Caguas and .185/.185/.222 in 8 games for the Santurce Crabbers then was 0 for 7 in the 2016 Caribbean Series.

Peña caught 42% on the basepaths in 2016, which he split between Corpus Christi (.238/.264/.411, 8 HR in 202 AB) and the Fresno Grizzlies (.226/.305/.245 in 16 G). With Santurce that winter, he backed up Neftali Soto at 1B and A.J. Jimenez and Vazquez at catcher, batting .225/.258/.292. A free agent, he was signed by the Chicago White Sox and spent all of 2017 with the Charlotte Knights. He hit .210/.258/.290 while his defense (.994 FLD, 31% CS) kept him as the team's most-used backstop when they had four other catchers pass through who would spend time in the big leagues. He split the winter between Santurce (.167/.188/.200 in 13 G) and the Dominican League's Leones del Escogido (3 for 13, 2 BB).

In 2018, he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays but only played 13 games for the Durham Bulls, hitting .279/.311/.302. He hit .157/.200/.235 for Santurce in 2018-2019, splitting duties with Jimenez. He was 0 for 6 in the 2019 Caribbean Series. His next stop was the Los Angeles Angels system, spending the summer of '19 with the Mobile BayBears (.258/.378/.323 in 20 G) and Salt Lake Bees (.254/.335/.449, 25 RBI in 39 G).

After hitting .155/.231/.155 for Santurce in 2019-2020, he was 2 for 10 with a run and a RBI for them in the 2020 Caribbean Series.

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ 2012 Astros Media Guide, pg. 255
  2. ↑ 2016 Astros Media Guide, pg. 173
  3. ↑ ibid.
  4. ↑ 2012 Baseball Almanac, pg. 360
  5. ↑ 2016 Astros Media Guide, pg. 173
  6. ↑ 2014 Baseball Almanac, pg. 360
  7. ↑ 2016 Astros Media Guide, pg. 173
  8. ↑ 2015 Baseball Almanac, pg. 377
  9. ↑ ibid., pg. 365
  10. ↑ 2016 Astros Media Guide, pg. 173
  11. ↑ 2016 Baseball Almanac, pg. 375
  12. ↑ ibid., pg. 365
  13. ↑ 2015 Pan American Games site
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