Frog Files: TCU Second Baseman Jerome Pena

Jerome Pena walks up to the plate every home game to the theme from Star Wars, and with Pena’s mohawk and flashy style, he sometimes looks like someone out of Star Wars. Nonetheless, Pena is a key cog in Jim Schlossnagle’s 2011 team.

At the beginning of the season, expectations may have been too high for Pena. Through 32 games, Pena is batting .288 with one home run and 18 RBIs.

In 2010, Pena hit .313 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs. Though Pena’s power numbers are down, most of that can be explained by the bat change and the wind that knocks ball after ball down in TCU‘s Lupton Stadium. However, many fans seem to be disappointed with Pena’s 2011 season. They have not only complained about his defense but his offense as well.

Like several players on the TCU team, he started off slowly this season which is the reason for the .288 batting average. By season’s end, I would be surprised, to say the least, if Pena is not batting over .300.

What Pena brings to TCU is leadership, confidence, and a swagger that each team must have. Whether going 4-4 or 0-4, Pena looks at one thing: wins. Now a senior, Pena was asked at the beginning of the season who the leaders on the 2011 team were. “We are all leaders of ourselves. We have a lot of veteran guys on the team that know that they have to be their own leader,” Pena said.

But after watching him play 32 games so far this season, it is clear where Pena stands out. Pena leads by example. He plays with great pace on the infield, and never hangs his head upon making a mistake. Moreover, Pena is the type of player that every college coach would love to have, and fans need to drop their complaints.

Biggest strength: Pena has the experience. He has been in just about every situation that can arise in the game of baseball. As a senior now, Pena will be looked to to provide clutch hits down the stretch as the Horned Frogs spring toward the regionals and superregionals. Pena has tremendous offensive talent, and this year he has seen a drop in his batting average on balls in play (BABIP). So his luck should begin to turn around which will enable him to show off all his offensive skills down the stretch.

What could improve: It is hard to find what could improve with Pena. His all-around game offers few weaknesses. He and Schlossnagle would like to see his batting average rise but with more games, that batting average will do just that. So let me nit-pick for a moment. In 32 games, Pena has made only 4 errors. He averages only one error every 8 games and he fields at a .973 percentage. However, it seems that Pena tries to be too flashy at times. Pena has the talent, skills, and footwork to go a whole season without an error, and his mistakes come when he tries to move to quickly or make a routine play a difficult one. Down the stretch, Pena needs to simply slow down and take his time. He has all the skills needed to be one of the best second basemen in college baseball, and if he is able to control the urge to be flashy, Pena can go the rest of the season without making another error. It is hard to complain about a guy only having 4 errors, but I just did…

Final Verdict: If Pena gets hot, watch out for the Frogs. While Pena has been solid all season long, he has not had any big hot streaks. He seems due, and Pena is not scared of the spotlight, and each game down the stretch will become more and more important. Look for Pena to carry the Frogs offensively at some point in the second half of this 2011 season.

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