Cody Laweryson isn’t a bit surprised that his former University of Maine baseball teammate and current Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena is one of Major League baseball’s leading hitters thanks to his current 14-game hitting streak, which ties a career-high.
Pena has gone 26-for-60 (.433 average) during his 14-game streak with eight homers and 14 runs batted in.
That raised his average to .322, which would be third best in Major League baseball, but he doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify, with two stints on the disabled list.
“He has been pretty unbelievable,” said Laweryson, a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization who is currently rehabilitating a shoulder strain at the Twins’ spring training site in Fort Myers, Florida.
“Everyone knew this was the player that he could turn into. When I was playing with him in college, you could always see his potential,” said Laweryson. “He is the best defensive shortstop I’ve ever had play behind me and he is the hardest worker I have ever been around.”
Laweryson added that if Pena was ever in a slump at the plate, “you knew he was going to figure it out.
“He never leaves the field.”
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UMaine head coach Nick Derba said Pena used to do sprints by himself pulling a spare tire behind him at 7:15 in the morning when he was a Black Bear.
“He is an anomaly,” said Derba. “He is uber-talented, although a lot of guys are talented. But he consistently worked at his craft to get better, and the way he lives his life off the field contributes to his success on the field. That’s a rarity.”
The 28-year-old Pena, a former All-America East selection, had four games with three hits and four with two during his streak entering Monday night’s game against Toronto.
The Astros have gone 10-4 during his streak including a current six-game winning streak to take first place in the American League West by two and a half games over the Texas Rangers, whom they just swept in three games.
Entering Monday’s game, the Astros’ lead-off hitter had played in 65 games and had 13 homers and 36 RBIs to go with 82 hits, 12 doubles and 53 runs scored. He was 8-for-9 in stolen bases.
The son of former Major League second baseman Geronimo Pena had an on-base percentage of .375, a slugging percentage of .529 and an OPS of .904.
Defensively, he had committed just five errors in 198 chances.
The Astros had gone 38-27 with him in the lineup and 20-28 without him.
Pena, who was drafted in the third round of the 2018 draft by Houston, is coming off his best season as he hit .304 with 14 homers, 62 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 125 games a year ago.
He burst onto the MLB scene in 2022 when he became the first rookie to ever be named the American League Championship Series and World Series Most Valuable Player in the same season.
Laweryson began the season with the Twins after posting a 1.17 ERA and striking out seven in five appearances spanning 7 ⅔ innings with the Major League club a year ago in his debut. He gave up just four hits and didn’t walk anyone.
He notched his first Major League save at the start of this season and has registered a 4.86 ERA in 16 ⅔ innings over 15 appearances for the Twins with 18 strikeouts and eight walks. He allowed 15 hits.
A forearm strain sidelined him for nearly seven weeks, and he has been shuttled back-and-forth between the Twins and their AAA franchise in St. Paul until he injured his shoulder while with the Saints in an outing against Louisville on July 17.
He had a 7.00 ERA in eight games with St. Paul and was taken off the Twins’ 40-man roster when he injured his shoulder.
He will be designated for assignment when he returns from injury if he clears waivers, which he expects to.
“It doesn’t make sense for another team to pick me up right now because they want someone who can pitch (right away) and I can’t,” said Moscow, Maine, native Laweryson. “It sucks not to be on the 40-man roster. But they had to clear some room on the 40-man roster because they are buying relievers and I can’t contribute.”
“I had been feeling really good but, unfortunately, that shoulder situation came out of nowhere,”said the 28-year-old Laweryson, a 14th round draft pick of the Twins.
The other former Black Bear teammate who saw MLB time this season, reliever Matt Pushard from Brewer, is pitching for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Miami Marlins’ AAA affiliate.
Pushard, also 28, was obtained by St. Louis from Miami in the Rule 5 draft in December and made his Major League debut with the Cardinals and notched a 5.14 ERA in six games spanning seven innings. He allowed six hits and four walks and struck out six.
He had been put on the 15-day disabled list by the Cardinals on March 31 due to knee tendinitis and came off on April 15.
He did a rehab stint with AAA Memphis before being activated by the Cardinals on May 16 and then being returned to the Marlins on June 3.
In 27 appearances between Memphis and Jacksonville, he has gone 1-2 with a 4.25 ERA. He has allowed 30 hits in 29 ⅔ innings with 33 strikeouts and 16 walks. He has four holds and one save in three opportunities.
He has yet to pitch for the Marlins, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2022.