Houston Astros Youngster Ranks Well in Positional Power Rankings

The Houston Astros continue to be a loaded team, despite the early playoff exit.

Sep 22, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) hits a double during the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros had much higher hopes for their 2024 season than a rough start and an even worse finish.

The club started the year off with a 25-33 record through the end of May, 6.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the AL West lead and 7.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot.

Even though they came back to win the division, they ended the year on the wrong side of a sweep in the American League Wild Card round of the playoffs at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.

Despite the down season, the dynasty is far from being over, as the Astros still employ one of the deepest lineups in Major League Baseball.

One piece that had a small bounce back from his sophomore slump this year was shortstop Jeremy Pena.

He batted .266/.308/.394 this year with 15 home runs, 70 RBI, and a 100 OPS+ across 650 plate appearances in 157 games.

The bounce back performance was enough to land the shortstop inside the top 15 of Joel Reuter's positional power rankings for Bleacher Report, ranking as the 14th-best shortstop in the sport.

"Pena is still chasing the magic that saw him win ALCS and World Series MVP during his rookie season in 2022, but he put together a solid all-around performance in 2024," writes Reuter, "the 27-year-old hit .266/.308/.394 for a 100 OPS+ with 28 doubles, 15 home runs, 70 RBI and 20 steals while also providing his usual standout defense (4 DRS, 0.0 WAR)."

His rookie campaign may prove to be an outlier if the last two years are any indication since they were quite similar, though the shortstop found more of a power stroke in 2024.

In his rookie season, Pena batted .253/.289/.426 with 20 home runs, 63 RBI, and a 102 OPS+ across 558 plate appearances in 136 games.

Defensively, he graded out as well below average this year per Baseball Savant, totaling -2 Outs Above Average which placed him in the 29th percentile and ranked as the 30th shortstop in the sport.

With Alex Bregman potentially walking away from Houston in free agency, Pena is going to need to put it all together on both sides of the ball to make up for the missing cornerstone at third base.

Pena has still proven himself to be a serviceable shortstop, if not roughly league average, so serving as a role player for the loaded Astros could be his ceiling.