Ramiro Pena already knows the pitfalls that come in the life of a bench player – when he’s back on the bench the day after hitting a three-run homer against the Nationals – but he got it confirmed when Fredi Gonzalez was the one joking with him about it Saturday afternoon.
“I told him, ‘Hey that manager of yours is a (jerk),” Gonzalez said. “You hit a three-run homer and he sits you on the bench. I would talk to him.”
Pena played his first two games of the year, Thursday and Friday, filling in for shortstop Andrelton Simmons while he nursed a jammed right wrist.
Pena went 1-for-4 against the Mets Thursday and was just getting warmed up. He greeted the Nationals with a three-run homer in his first at-bat Friday night, almost a year to the day that he hit a game-winning 10th homer against the Nationals in Washington.
Pena has six home runs in his career (in 391 at-bats); three of them have come against the Nationals (in 28 at-bats). But he wasn’t surprised that he was back on the bench Saturday.
“You get used to it when you’re a utility or a bench guy,” said Pena, who was just grateful he had eight at-bats to get him going at the plate. “Now with these two days, I feel way better now. (It helps you) especially with rhythm, hitting, and even defensively.”
Gonzalez knows the value in Pena getting some action too, all jokes aside.
“He’s fine,” Gonzalez said. “He knows his role. He ended up getting eight at-bats in two games - that in and of itself will pay some dividends, whether it’s tonight, tomorrow or somewhere down the road.”
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