The plan is to have Peña platoon left field for the Nats, who have high hopes that he'll bring along a big bat to help the club climb out of home run cellar.
Serving as a backup for the AL East-leading Sox, Peña is batting .218 with 5 longballs and 17 RBIs - and 58 strikeouts - in 73 games this season. Along with his 67 career homers, he has whiffed 436 times in 459 games over six seasons between Boston and the Cincinnati Reds.
Nationals VP and GM Jim Bowden put it perfectly...
"One thing about Willie Mo Peña I can tell you is if you give him 500 at bats, he's going to hit 40 home runs and strike out more than Adam Dunn," Bowden said. "And he's a below-average defender who needs to work hard on his game."His tendency to make defensive mistakes and strikeout consistency aside, he's pretty much a monster; a welcomed sight in Washington, where they've hit a major league-worst 82 homers so far.
To make room for the new slugger on the roster, the Nationals sent rookie Matt Chico (5-7, 4.96 ERA) back down to the AAA Columbus Clippers.
The lefty has walked 20 batters in his last 24 innings, so he has roughtly two starts down there to shape up and relocate the strike zone before rejoining the club when big league rosters expand in next month.
[Washington Nationals]
3 comments:
I don't really know how to feel about this, I think with a little more experience and wishful thinking, Wily Mo could have been the next Big Papi.
Hmmmm. Not sure if I'd go that far Deb, but he does have some major potential, once he irons out his defensive issues and bad eye. He'll make a decent DH someday.
He was a liability - the Sox are happy to be rid of him. Plus, the Nationals are just going to turn around and use him for trade bait, anyhow.
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