Milwaukee signed Jorge Quintana for $1.7 million as the headliner of its January 2024 international class, and Jesús Made ($950,000) has become one of the most highly regarded teenage prospects in baseball. But don’t sleep on another infield prospect from that same group in Peña, an $800,000 addition out of the Dominican Republic. Peña won the Dominican Summer League batting title with a .393 average while stealing 39 bags (tied for second-most in the DSL) and managing a 1/1 K/BB ratio over 44 games on his way to mid-season and post-season All-Star honors in the complex circuit.
A right-handed batter, Peña starts from a slightly open stance but looks balanced and relaxed in the box, using a slight leg lift to stay on time. His bat-to-ball skills are impressive at such a young age, leading to just an 8.2 percent K rate in ’24, but he knows it and will expand the zone a bit to get to that contact. He hit only one home run last season, but his exit velocities have blossomed with his move to full-season ball in 2025.
Peña has ample speed to burn and is aggressive on the basepaths. He’ll beat out grounders too -- part of the reason for his high .426 BABIP in the DSL -- and that will give future defenses plenty to consider. He moved around between shortstop, third base and even second because of the Brewers’ DSL depth at the six. His arm strength would play at third should he land there full-time. Peña may have to continue shifting around the dirt as he's moved aggressively alongside Made.
Milwaukee’s 2024 international class was already considered solid when the organization added two of MLB Pipeline’s Top 25 prospects in the group in Jorge Quintana (No. 12) and Jesús Made (No. 22). Pena didn’t crack that initial ranking, but he did sign for $800,000 to give the Brewers another infield option at the lowest levels. The 5-foot-11 infielder took off in the Dominican Summer League, where he was the Player of the Month for June and a midseason All-Star.
While it’s important to not get too wrapped up in DSL stats, Pena’s have popped off the page as he’s flirted with a .400 average for much of the summer while keeping his strikeout rate below 10 percent. He looks at ease in the box, using a leg kick to stay in rhythm, and with plus-plus speed, he’s proven to be a menace on the basepaths, both in terms of swiping bags efficiently and in grabbing the extra base on balls to the gaps. There is some raw power in his 5-foot-11 frame, as he showed by homering in the DSL All-Star Game, and it could play even more in games as he matures physically.
Signed as a shortstop, Pena also saw time at third base and second in his first pro season. He’s still raw at the six, but he has the arm strength to be valuable at the corner if that’s where he needs to land full-time, especially with so many other shortstops in the system. Milwaukee has a recent history of getting aggressive with DSL performers, and Pena could fall in line with that when he heads stateside for his age-18 season in 2025.
