Jose Pena

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #145 prospect in 2021 draft
  Pena flashed a big arm last summer with a fastball that got up to 94 mph and overpowered a lot of hitters at East Coast Pro. A 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthander committed to Florida International, Pena transferred to Tampa Prep this spring and has been up to 95 mph while flashing an above-average curveball—giving him two 55-grade pitches. There was a decent amount of scouting heat running in to see him, which means there are probably a few teams thinking about signing him out of his FIU commitment, but he did get hit around against some of the better teams in the area. Pena has a fast arm, but he is an erratic strike-thrower at the moment, with a long arm action in the back and early hand/glove separation. There’s some effort in the delivery, with head whack and a finish that falls off to the first base side at times, so Pena will need to clean up some of that to profile as a starter in the long run. His curveball is in the mid 70s with 12-to-6 shape and shows good power at its best, with plenty of depth when he gets on top of the pitch and keeps it down. Pena has also thrown an upper-70s changeup, but the pitch needs plenty of refinement and he tends to slow his arm down with it presently.