Pena, who played at Bridgeport last season until his contract was sold to the San Diego organization, became the 11th former Atlantic League player to wear a major league uniform since the season started. That is quite a statement.
Newly-recalled Mark DiFelice (Milwaukee) became No. 10. Stephen Drew and Rene Rivera are the other grads currently in the majors, but Erick Almonte, Robinson Cancel, Tom Cochran, Nelson Figueroa, Jay Gibbons, Mike O'Connor and Mike Rivera also have been there.
It only took Pena two at-bats to blast his 78th career major league home run (his first since 2008), a 441-foot drive at Kansas City. That is his only hit in seven at-bats through two games.
We will cover both Pena and DiFelice in this week's Independent Baseball Insider column, which subscribers will receive later today.
RENE RIVERA SURVIVES
It seems clear that Rene Rivera, who was at Camden as recently as last season, has had some impact with Minnesota because the Twins decided to keep three catchers when Joe Mauer returned from his lengthy stint on the disabled list.
Rivera and Drew Butera pretty much split the catching duties the last several weeks as the Twins started clawing their way up from their horrid start. Neither carries much of a batting average (Rivera is at .180, 11-for-61 with a homer and three RBI), but they did the job defensively and even combined to hit .314 over one 14-game span.
KALA KA'AIHUE DID NOT STAY INACTIVE FOR LONG
Colorado's release of former York and Newark first baseman Kala Ka'aihue did not keep him on the sidelines for long. He signed in the independent American Association with the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones.
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