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Voting for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game begins today and every single fan throughout the city of Houston will undoubtedly be casting their ballot for shortstop Jeremy Peña. The 26-year-old has enjoyed a breakout campaign this season and should be well on his way to being named a starter for this year's Midsummer Classic. Peña, however, might have something bigger in mind than an invite to the All-Star Game in Atlanta.
The slick-fielding Houston Astros' infielder is officially in the MVP conversation. If you don't believe that, you haven't been paying attention. While New York Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh are the likely frontrunners at the moment, Peña has a rock-solid case to be included among them.
Judge's .391 batting average, 1.249 OPS, and 21 home runs undoubtely have him as the early-favorite to win the award for a third-time. Astros fans know that the East Coast bias and pinstripes on his uniform will garner some extra votes too. Raleigh leads the AL in home runs and his 1.016 OPS is second among all qualified AL hitters behind only Judge.
Jeremy Peña's 2025 breakout could result in the Astros SS entering the MVP conversation
Peña is on pace to set a career-high in homers, but he's never going to amass the sheer volume of round-trippers that players like Judge and Raleigh will. In fact, by the time the 2025 season comes to a close, Peña might be fortunate just to have 20 big flies on his stat sheet.
Nevertheless, Peña is making his mark in other ways this season. The speedster is among the top-10 in the league in stolen bases this season. His on-base percentage is among the top-15 and according to Baseball Savant, Peña is among the top 10% in outs above average. Considering Peña plays such a valued position, his defensive performance will carry weigh. Among shortstops, only Masyn Winn, Nick Allen, Carlos Correa, and Bobby Witt Jr. have more OAA.
Speaking of Witt Jr., it might surprise some to know that Peña has more home runs, along with a higher batting average and OPS. Another highly-regarded shortstop, Baltimore Orioles' infielder Gunnar Henderson, trails Peña in almost every meaningful category.
Everyone loves to use Wins Above Replacement as the be-all, end-all, and that gives Peña a leg up on all the competition not named Judge. Peña's 3.6 bWAR trails only the Yankees outfielder (4.7 bWAR) this season.
Peña should be leading the way in the All-Star voting among shortstops, but why stop there? Now in his fourth full-season in the big leagues, Peña is flashing MVP-caliber talent. Can he keep it up? That remains to be seen. The bigger question among Astros fans, however, is whether or not Houston's ownership will step up and sign him to a long-term deal. That too, remains to be seen.