Tony Francisco Peña (born March 23, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseballpitcher. Peña played shortstop until the 2009 season, when he converted to pitching.[1]
A non-drafted free agent, Peña was signed on July 21, 1999 by the Atlanta Braves.[2] He made his big league debut with Atlanta on April 13, 2006. His first Major League hit came on April 21 at Washington against the Nationals. He appeared in 40 games for the Braves, batting .227 with a home run and three RBIs in 44 at-bats.[1]
Kansas City Royals
On March 23, 2007, Peña was traded to Kansas City for pitching prospect Erik Cordier.[3] In Peña's first game as a Royal, he hit two triples.[1] Peña finished 2007, his first full season, at .267/.284/.356 with two homers and 47 RBIs. He also hit seven triples and stole five bases.[1]
Pena lost his job as a regular starter in the middle of 2008. From June through the end of 2008, Pena mainly entered games as a defensive replacement. Pena made his major league pitching debut on July 21, performing mop-up duty in a 19–4 blowout loss to the Detroit Tigers. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Iván Rodríguez.[4] Pena made 75 plate appearances in 46 games through the last four months of the 2008 season and was designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals on July 16, 2009.[5]
Peña managed the AZL Royals during the 2019 season.
He was named the bench coach of the Omaha Storm Chasers prior to the 2020 season which ultimately was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, it was announced that he would join the Royals' big league coaching staff.[10]