Pena

[cmchampa2]

Is Carlos Pena officially the streakiest player ever? I know the stats even out in the end and he is a monster when he's hot, but these 3-for-32 and 0-for-15 with 2 walk droughts are unbelieveable.

[mcqfesijiba]

Monroe is pretty streaky in his own right. Pena looks pitiful at the plate right now. We really need him and Monroe to turn things around, because they are like two consecutive automatic outs in the lineup. And giving these guys days off while they struggle only means the likewise struggling Thames or that "other outfielder" see time. Maybe Nook should give them some hitting advice, haha.

[mcqfesijiba]

Edit: My Internet connection screwed up in a funny way yesterday and the post that was here was supposed to be a new topic of it's own.

[moochman]

Pena looks like a choker to me. Last year he didn't hit until the season was well lost, then came on like the next comming. I think that when it counts he is too timid to be successful. A nice post all-star break pick-up until proven otherwise.

[mcqfesijiba]

I don't know about the choker assumption, but whatever the case, he is playing pathetically right now. 10 K's in his last 5 games with 0 BB's!? 1 hit in his last 23 ABs!? He has to be embarassed by his play right now. He doesn't even look like he has a chance at the plate right now. He might see a little more bench time in the near future if he doesn't show some life. Let's hope he's hit bottom with a .169 avg and mealy .259 slg and ready for a resurgence.

[mcqfesijiba]

Ok, anybody think Chris Shelton deserves a shot yet? Pena has no extra base hits in almost a month now (that hall of fame exhibition game doesn't count). His walk totals that he was posting at the beginning of the year have dropped off and turned into K's. Lots of players go through slumps, but Pena looks just plain overmatched even by the most average of pitchers, while Shelton tears up AAA.

[moochman]

I agree 100%. Trammell's loyalty to Pena is puzzling to say the least. To hear Tram talk he clearly has no idea what to do about the team-wide offensive power outage. He juggles the line-up daily instead of making changes and giving them time to gel. And the one change he refuses to make is sending Pena to Toledo to work out his issues.

Shelton could be ready to produce and Young at 1B can't do that much worse than Pena, who now looks to have his D affected by his struggles. Every hit Shelton gets for the Mudhens is wasted, we already see that he can handle AAA pitching. Let's see what he can do in the show.

[mcqfesijiba]

I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to keep Pena in the lineup was from even higher up trying to justify his contract renewal this past season. Fortunately it is a short contract. Whatever the case, the guy has serious issues this year and if I were in charge I wouldn't rule out a minor league assignment to see if he can revive himself in the minors.

There is absolutely no way Shelton could do any worse than Pena. Right now, Pena looks like the worst offensive player in the big leagues the way average at best SPs can make him look foolish.

[cmchampa2]

Personally, I'd like to see Maggs get back and settle this whole mess. Maggs at DH, Young at first, both Nook and Monroe sticking in the OF and Thames staying up with the big club. Sans Maggs, I guess Shelton wouldn't be that bad, but how about Thames getting the DH gig and Young playing at 1st?

Pena is unexplainable. He seems to know the strikezone. He's got incredible power. He plays a brilliant defensive 1st base. The problem has got to be upstairs... he just can't end slumps quick enough.

[mcqfesijiba]

He's back!!! 2 HR's in his first game back! Sign him long term right now!!!! Don't let this kid get away!!!!

Ok, back to reality, is this guy not some kind of enigma? He just keeps you guessing. Did he figure out his issues in AAA, or is this just more of the Pena tease? It's too bad, this guy would be a GREAT fit for this team given his tremendous power potential and pure left handed swing. It was only his first game back, but that clearly wasn't the Pena we saw the first couple of months this year.

I believe he is a non-tender after the year and anyone's guess is as good as mine as to what the Tigers will do with him. There's no everyday spot for him at the moment, but let's see if he can make their offseason decision on him a tough one when he does play.