Houston Astros World Series MVP Shockingly Listed Among Worst Players in MLB

The former Houston Astros World Series MVP has been listed among the worst players in MLB according to win probability added.

Sep 25, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) reacts after striking out against the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning at Minute Maid Park. / Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Young Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña hasn't yet become the superstar he showed flashes of as a rookie, but is he among the worst players in all of baseball?

He may have been last season, depending on what statistics you look at. MLB data account BrooksGate put together a list of the bottom-30 players from last season when ranked by Win Probability Added (or in their case, subtracted).

Peña is within the bottom 20 with a -2.20 WPA. For context, he finished with the same number as Washington Nationals maligned pitcher Patrick Corbin. Corbin has been one of the least effective pitchers in baseball for years now and finished last season with a 5.62 ERA. No pitcher finished with more hits or earned runs given up.

So what did the youngster do last season to get paired with such undesirable company?

For starters, he posted a career-low .266/.308/.394 slash line with 15 home runs and 70 RBI. He also ended the year on a horrid note with a .231/.271/.319 slash line over the last month of the campaign.

He has not been a far above-average hitter at any point of his MLB career, but this was another step down. Using OPS+, though, he did finish exactly at 100 which would be considered right down the middle of league average.

While he wasn't doing far-below average, he also wasn't doing much to help the Astros win. Which is what the WPA tracks anyway. It is a stat that uses in-game context to weigh different outcomes.

Another thing that certainly hurt was that his fielding value also tanked. He won a Gold Glove at shortstop as a rookie with a FRV of five, but that number has dropped each year since. It tanked all the way down to -2.

While it is disappointing to see Peña down near the bottom of the league, it is also important not to freak out about such a young player already.

The 27-year-old will be entering just his fourth professional season. He is still at least around average at the plate and should be able to bounce back on defense.

It was also actually an improvement over last season when he finished with a WPA of -3.23. His rookie campaign was his best with a 1.23 mark.

Also good news for Houston, they had a player finish in the top-30 as well. Superstar slugger Yordan Alvarez finished with the No. 14 best WPA in MLB with +3.96.