Dominican baseball player (born 1977)
Baseball player
Juan Francisco Peña [peh-nya] (born June 27, 1977) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1999 season. Listed at 6' 5", 215 lb., he batted and threw right-handed.
Peña was a promising young pitcher in the Red Sox organization who had his baseball career shortened after suffering a serious injury. He posted a 2-0 record with a 0.69 ERA in two starts, giving up one run on nine hits and three walks while striking out 15 in 13 innings of work.
In spring training before the 2000 season, Peña was projected for the fifth starting rotation spot. He was 2-2 with a 1.64 ERA in 16⅔ innings, but was hit in the elbow by a line drive and then experienced pain in the elbow during a warmup. An exam confirmed a torn medial collateral ligament in his elbow that required surgery, causing him to miss the season. By 2002, Peña had worked his way back to Triple-A, but he went just 4-11 with a 5.33 ERA, after which the Red Sox let him go. He spent the 2003 season in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, then spent two seasons pitching in the independent leagues and the Mexican League before retiring in 2005 at the age of 28. He now resides in South Florida with his girlfriend of nearly 2 years.
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