Milwaukee’s latest teenage force is already making noise in Double-A.
Jorge Peña, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, stepped into the Biloxi lineup on Tuesday night and then delivered his first loud reminder on Thursday, going 2-for-4 with a solo homer in a 4-2 win over Rocket City at Toyota Field.
Peña started the night with a sharp single to left in the first inning, turning on an inside heater from Jose Gonzalez. Two innings later, he got a slider he could handle and didn’t miss it, driving the ball over the left-field wall at 104 mph off the bat, according to the ballpark’s Trackman device.
Even the Rocket City broadcast crew had to stop and appreciate the moment as Peña trotted around the bases.
“He’s 19, by the way.”
That line tells you plenty. At 19 years and 280 days old, Peña is the third-youngest regular in the Southern League at his new level, and he’s doing it while lining up next to another blue-chip teenager in Jesús Made, MLB’s No. 1 prospect. Peña has shifted over to third base this week for the Shuckers, giving Biloxi two elite teenage shortstops in the same lineup - or close enough to it - and making the whole thing feel a little unfair for opposing pitchers.
Peña and Made have long been linked as close friends, and Peña has said this about their relationship: “It’s never a rivalry, but a lot of fun together,” Peña said of Made earlier this year. “We enjoy each other’s friendship.”
The promotion to Biloxi came after Peña tore through High-A Wisconsin in just 76 games across parts of two seasons. He hit .298 there this year, and over his final 18 games at that level, he was even better, batting .301 with an .828 OPS.
His climb hasn’t been perfectly smooth, though. Peña’s season was interrupted by a health scare in late April that was diagnosed as dehydration and led to a hospital stay.
He got sick again on the field in early June, then returned only after clearing all medical protocols. A hamstring injury later kept him out for two more weeks.
When Peña has been on the field, though, he’s looked every bit like a player racing through the system. The Dominican Republic native has stolen 29 bases in 57 games across three levels this year, and he’s tied for the fastest run tool on Milwaukee’s updated Top 30 Prospects list. FanGraphs gives him a 9.4 Spd rating, which measures stolen-base and baserunning ability, tops among Brewers minor leaguers.
And Biloxi isn’t just built around Peña and Made. Josh Adamczewski, Milwaukee’s No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 88, gives the Shuckers a third Top 100 name.
Andrew Fischer, Milwaukee’s No. 6 and MLB’s No. 5 third-base prospect, has also been part of that mix this year and currently leads the Minors with 37 homers. Add in recently promoted Braylon Payne, Milwaukee’s No. 7 prospect, along with Marco Dinges and Dylan O’Rae, and Biloxi has become one of the most dangerous lineups in Minor League Baseball.
That firepower has helped push the club to No. 3.
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