Leadoff suits Pena well: Slumping Carlos Pena may have found his swing at the top of the Tampa Bay lineup. Pena hit a three-run homer during a five-run fourth and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5 on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon moved Pena up from the middle of the lineup to the leadoff spot in an attempt to help him break out of an offensive funk. Pena, who snapped an 0-for-18 slide on his sixth homer of the season, entered Tuesday hitting just .116 in May. "You can't really quantify how much of a difference it makes, but Joe is really smart by shifting things like that," Pena said. "It changes the energy and good things like this happen, not only individually but as a team. We put up some runs on the board and felt more comfortable." (Updated 05/23/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/23/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Pena's homer to center off Drew Hutchison (3-2) was estimated at 452 feet. He finished with two hits in five at-bats. "I liked his at-bats in general," Maddon said. "Overall it's just about a mind set. It's just about what you're thinking and changing that a little bit. It's all about confidence. When he gets his confidence going you're going to see a lot more of that." Pena was in the leadoff spot again Wednesday and might remain there as long as the results continue. Pena is a streaky slugger. Although, don't be surprised his batting average is so low since he is just a career .238 hitter. But you keep him on your roster because of his power potential. Pena remains a low-end Fantasy start in mixed leagues until he goes on another tear. (Updated 05/23/2012).
05/23/2012 11:32 Joe Maddon laughs at 'conventional' lineups
The Rays lineup Wednesday is classic Joe Maddon.
For the second straight game, Carlos Pena is batting leadoff for the Rays. In the same lineup, Drew Sutton is hitting cleanup.
05/20/2012 19:47 Hit Parade for Week 8
Some catchers have been bitten by the injury bug in recent days, leaving some owners scrambling. Our Scott White shares some recommendations and helps set your lineups for Week 8 in his Hit Parade.
05/19/2012 19:27 Joyce's slam boosts Cobb, Rays
Alex Cobb won his first start of the season, Matt Joyce hit a grand slam and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Saturday.
05/16/2012 22:54 Rays cool off surging Red Sox
Jeremy Hellickson pitched six solid innings, Luke Scott had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Boston 2-1 on Wednesday night, snapping the Red Sox's five-game winning streak.
05/15/2012 03:13 The Lineup: Red Sox on a roll, Braves have a case of the Mondays
Red Sox lefty Jon Lester threw his first nine-inning complete game since 2010 as Boston has put together a four-game winning streak. In Atlanta, the Braves dropped to 0-6 on Mondays this season.
After a miserable year in Chicago in which he could never quite redeem himself in the hearts and minds of Cubs fans after a slow start, Carlos Pena is coming back home. And by home, we mean Tampa Bay, where he was an All-Star in 2009. Clearly, he isn't that player anymore -- he hasn't hit better than .227 in any of the last three seasons -- but he still offers a combination of patience and power that allows him to keep getting regular at-bats at the major-league level. True, he has fallen short of 30 homers each of the last two seasons, and if he doesn't meet that threshold, his low batting average and high strikeout rate are probably going to do him in for mixed-league purposes. But before you dismiss him as a viable option, keep in mind the slow start. He hit .235 with all 28 homers and an .871 OPS from May 1 to the end of the season. If he can start off the year that way now that he's back where he's comfortable, he still has something to offer mixed-league owners at age 33. As long as you can tolerate the drain in batting average, target Pena late as a cheap source of homers. (Updated 1/27/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
