Providence’s Jeremy Peña World Series MVP, One of Greatest Rookie Seasons in MLB History

Providence’s Jeremy Peña World Series MVP, One of Greatest Rookie Seasons in MLB History

Jeremy Peña won the World Series MVP award as he led the Houston Astros to the championship. The Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night 4-2. 

“Man, where do I even start?” Peña said after the game. “It has a lot to do with my family, my upbringing. Shout out to my teammates as well. They took me in since Day One. They gave me the confidence to just go out and play my game.”

But the World Series MVP award was just one of the many accomplishments for the Classical High School grad.

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Peña became just the ninth player -- and only the second rookie -- to be named LCS and World Series MVP in the same postseason, joining:

Willie Stargell, Pirates, 1979
Darrell Porter, Cardinals, 1982
Orel Hershiser, Dodgers, 1988
Livan Hernandez, Marlins, 1997*
Cole Hamels, Phillies, 2008
David Freese, Cardinals, 2011
Madison Bumgarner, Giants, 2014
Corey Seager, Dodgers, 2020

*Rookie

 

Golden

And he set another record with the glove.

"Peña is the first Astros rookie to win a Gold Glove and the first rookie to win it at shortstop. He led American League shortstops in defensive runs saved (15) and defensive WAR, per Baseball Reference (2.4). He also tied for third in the AL in zone rating (.823). He’s the second consecutive Houston shortstop to win the Gold Glove, with Carlos Correa winning it last year. The only other Astros shortstop to win a Gold Glove is Roger Metzger in 1973," according to MLB.com.

“I felt like this year we got a lot of good work done,” Peña said. “[Astros coaches] Joe Espada, Omar López, they knew exactly what I had to work on to become a better defender. And we stuck with it all year.”