After getting hit on his left hand by a fastball thrown by C.C. Sabathia of the New York Yankees, Pena broke two fingers — ending his season. X-rays showed that he broke his index and middle fingers. Pena knew there was trouble right away.

Said Pena: “I knew when the ball hit me it was going to be bad. You don’t take a 95 mph fastball on the finger and live to tell about it — or the finger live to tell about it.”

To finish the 2009 baseball season, Pena totaled 39 homers, 100 RBIs and 91 runs. The only blemish on his stats is his .227 batting average. Both his batting average and on-base percentage have fallen each year while with the Rays. That said, the Rays would have been out of the playoff picture a long time ago if it wasn’t for the native of the Dominican Republic.

As it is, Pena is unlikely to miss any playoff action this year because Tampa Bay has fallen out of the chase. For the AL Wild Card, the Rays are 7.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox and 5 games behind the Texas Rangers.

Carlos Pena - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Carlos Pena Out for the Season

1. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
The production the Yankees have got recently from Teixeira makes the franchise look smart for sign him to that mega contract in the offseason. In the last month, he has 25 RBIs, 20 runs and nine homers.

2. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Even though he’s dealt a few nagging injuries as of alte, Pujols remains a monster. There’s no other hitter that pitchers more.

3. Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
Fielder’s 27 RBIs and on-base percentage of .427 in the last month is extremely impressive. On the season, he’s batting a career-high .302.

4. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
Over the last month, Howard has struggled a bit in terms of his batting average and getting on base. But when he connects, he connects. He has ten homers in the last 30 days.

5. Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays
After getting off to a fast start, Pena started to cool off a little bit. But he’s not heating back up. His 21 homers lead the American League.

Carlos Pena - Tampa Bay Rays (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

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