In January, the New York Mets gave Elian Peña a $5 million signing bonus, the second-largest signing bonus paid to an international free agent, behind the $6.5 million bonus the Los Angeles Dodgers paid Rōki Sasaki.
Peña is already making a name for himself in the Mets system, where was the No. 3-ranked prospect in this year’s international prospect class, per MLB Pipeline. He is currently the No. 10 prospect in the Mets organization and is in the Dominican Summer League.
Peña is slashing .299/.423/.540 through 54 games at the Rookie level and has nine home runs. However, six of his nine home runs have come in just two games. On Monday, he notched his second three-home run game of the year during the Mets Orange’s 15-2 victory over the Dominican Summer League Angels.
His first two home runs came off Steven Cabrera, and his third home run came off Kauriel Leon. His first three-homer game came against the Yankees Dominican Summer League team on June 26. In less than one month, Peña has put together two three-home run games.
According to MLB.com’s Brendan Samson, he is the first player to have two three-homer games in his first professional season since 2005, which is when the stats started being archived. He is also the sixth player to have a three-home run game at 18 or younger since 2005.
According to Samson, he is also just the third player since 2005 to have two three-home run games in the same season before turning 20, where he is hoined Travis Denker and Joey Gallo. The only other professional that has achieved two three-homer games this year is Jose Rojas, a Triple-A infielder in the New York Yankees organization.
The Mets put plenty of faith in Peña when they gave him $5 million of their $6.2 million in international bonus pool funds. The 17-year-old shortstop’s power surge is a small glimpse into why the Mets went all-in on him.
Photo: A general view of the exterior of Citi Field prior to the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Friday, March 29, 2024 in New York, New York. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
