Cubs Need Pena To Improve Average
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have a 4-5 record on the season, but only one of their losses has been by more than two runs, so with a little more offensive production, the team could be off to a much better start.
One player, in particular, that the Cubs could use more production from is first baseman Carlos Pena.
"I've been paying attention to him, closely," Ken Rosenthal, of FOX Sorts, said on the Mully and Hanley Show. "Because it's curious to me what has happened to him, how he just kind of fell apart last year. Not totally, because he was still hitting some home runs, but from an average stand point."
LISTEN: Ken Rosenthal On The Mully And Hanley Show
Podcast
For the rest of this interview and other 670 The Score interviews click here.
Last season, Pena hit for a .196 batting average, the lowest of his career, but also hit 28 home runs and drove in 84 runs. The Cubs were hoping that signing Pena to a one-year contract would get the most production out of him, but he's struggled early in the 2011 campaign, hitting just .190 with four RBI.
"Clearly it's not there yet," Rosenthal said. "He is never going to be a .300 hitter, it's pretty obvious. If he hit .240, with the power that he has and the on-base skills that he has, it would be fine. You have to get to a better place there. Again, it's something to watch. They need him, I think badly."
