Astros' 2022 World Series MVP Jeremy Pena makes it clear where his focus is: "Stats don’t matter in the postseason"

Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena is in just his second season, but already has more playoff experience than Mike Trout. The Astros have become a paragon of success both in their roster building abilities and championship pedigree. These two important factors are exemplified by Pena, who is already exhibiting a veteran mindset. Baseball is an extremely mental game, especially in the postseason.

Having a player in his second season already knowing what it takes to win it all is an incredible advantage. It is the sign of organization success that he is willing to put his focus on the World Series trophy, instead of personal accolades. Experience is a key way for young stars to develop, and Pena will have no shortage of it.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic shared this quote from Pena to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Chandler Rome reports the comments of Jeremy Pena

"Stats don’t matter in the postseason. What matters is winning" - Jeremy Pena

MLB has the longest season in North American sports by a lot, so statistics have become a major part of the game. With so much data available, predictions and analytics have become intrinsically linked to the game.

However, in the playoffs, the sample sizes are much smaller, much more difficult to compute. So Pena is right in a way, the numbers behind the wins don't matter nearly as much as the wins.

This is a lesson that can take some years to understand, but apparently not if you win World Series MVP in your rookie year.

The Astros did not have the dominant season many predicted, but they are proving they are still the team to beat in the American League.

The Houston Astros will need Jeremy Pena to step up in 2023 the same way he did in 2022

The Astros are once again the smart pick to reach the World Series, but they need to get past the Minnesota Twins first. The Twins offense, led by Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis, is capable of scoring in bunches. When that does inevitably happen, Pena could be a key contributor in combatting them. Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve are still the leaders, but Jeremy Pena is already the clutch slugger.

The Twins took care of business against the Toronto Blue Jays, but have already found out the Astros are a different beast. If Pena gets rolling again the way he did last postseason, watch out.