Jun 5, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) hits an RBI double against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Is Houston Astros Star Jeremy Peña Best Shortstop in MLB Right Now?

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Kyle Morton | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Houston Astros fans could have been forgiven if their expectations for the performance of shortstop Jeremy Peña had fallen a bit heading into the 2025 campaign.

After a breakout rookie 2022 season in which he replaced Carlos Correa, posted a 5.0-bWAR in the regular season and went on to win the Most Valuable Player honors in both the American League Championship Series and the World Series, Peña looked destined for stardom.

Instead, he settled into a very good, but not elite, level in 2023 and 2024.

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His defense and base running made him a very valuable player, but it looked like he perhaps had hit a hard ceiling with the bat in his hands.

Instead, the University of Maine product has now spent nearly three months proving that he had much more to his game.

It could not have come at a better time, either. Peña replaced Correa in 2022. But in 2025, he's replaced the production of former Astros stars like Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker in a more figurative sense.

With Bregman and Tucker gone, the Astros desperately needed someone to up their game, and Peña has done just that, hitting .316/.373/.480 to smash his career highs in each key offensive category.

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According to Baseball Reference, Peña was worth 3.9 WAR in 2023 and 4.1 in 2022. So far in 2025, he's already reached 3.9, and it's not even the middle of June.

Jeremy Peña leads the way for shortstops! pic.twitter.com/BU2fvKlQv8
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 10, 2025

That mark doesn't just pace all Astros hitters, it paces all MLB shortstops and everyone else in the game aside from New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs outfielders Aaron Judge and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

He's not just nearly a lock to secure his first all-star nod. He could even play his way into the AL MVP race.

Preseason MLB player rankings prominently featured players like Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. and Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson as the top shortstops in MLB.

Peña did not even make MLB.com's top 100 before the season, but right now, he looks like the best of the bunch.

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The 27-year-old is elite in terms of strikeout avoidance, and according to Baseball Savant, he occupies the 98th percentile in sprint speed on the basepaths as well as the 93rd percentile in range as a fielder.

These facets of his game have always been elite, but it's an uptick in power production that sets his whole arsenal apart right now.

After hitting 10 home runs in 2023 and 15 in 2024, he's already notched nine as of June 10.

If he can continue to find ways to clear the fences, there's no telling what kind of contract extension he might play his way into.

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This article first appeared on Houston Astros on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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