thingsihateaboutBrayanPena

Let me begin by saying that I love everything about the Royals. I absolutely love love love the Royals.

With that said, I am absolutely not a fan of our catcher Brayan Pena. I supported him last year when he rarely played, but now he is showing why he never played. So, in the spirit of the Royals' latest loss, this time in walk off fashion the pitch after Mr. Pena visited the mound, I created a Twitter hash tag* giving reasons why I hate Brayan Pena. Maybe hate is a strong word.

1. "He wears a double-earred helmet". Its one of the goofiest looking things in Major League BaseballArgument against this is that he is a switch hitter and this is the only way he can have one helmet. Argument for this is that Melky Cabrera is also a switch hitter. And he does not use the double-earred helmet.

2. "He uses a bat flip reserved only for the greatest home run hitters in the game." Every time Mr. Pena "gets a hold of one" he flips the bat like he hit a monster home run. Fact: the guy has ten career home runs. Ten. So a bat flip is pointless and ridiculous.

3. "He can't throw out a base runner to save his life". His throws down to second always have a tailing action away from second base that allow the base runner to steal the base easily. He has caught base stealers 31% of the time during his career, already allowing 13 stolen bases this year.

4. "Every time he visits the mound, the next pitch is roped for a base hit." Case in point: tonight vs. Adam Jones. Jack Soria throws two straight fastballs by Jones. Two strikes. There is some confusion so Pena goes out to the mound. The next pitch ends up behind the pitch in center field. Sunday it happened against the Cardinals in extra innings. I have no stats to back this up, but recent events seem to back up this theory.

5. "He can't block the plate like Matt Treanor". Matt Treanor is a master of the art of blocking the plate. Brayan Pena is the opposite. He allowed the game winning run to score against the Rangers recently because he tried to block the plate about two feet in front of it. Another time he caught the ball and the runner smacked his mitt and that was the only reason why he was out.

6. "He acts like an 8-year old who just got a gameboy whenever something good happens to him." He overreacts with his celebrations after everything big. The bat flip is one piece of evidence. He showcased the ball in his non-glove hand and marched around the plate after tagging someone out.

Maybe I am frustrated over tonight's loss, so I am being a little harsh. I bet he is one of the nicest people and he clearly has an unrivaled passion for the sport. He is a good guy and a great person in the locker room, but I am just not a fan of his style on the playing field.