It might be a power surge type of season for one of the Houston Astros’ young studs.

One of the reasons why the Houston Astros have been able to keep rolling during this dynastic run is because they’ve replaced their departing players with bright prospects who deliver at the Major League level.

Plenty of clubs around the league certainly assumed the end was nigh when Gerrit Cole, George Springer and Carlos Correa went in free agency.

Yet, the Astros are still dominant, having won a World Series title without all three of those former franchise mainstays.

Jeremy Pena was a significant factor in that.

Tasked with replacing Correa in 2022, he performed an incredible rookie season that saw him slash .253/.289/.426 with 22 home homers and 63 RBI. He elevated his game to new heights in the playoffs as he had an OPS of 1.005 and took him both the ALCS MVP and World Series MVP honors.

Houston looked to have uncovered another treasure.

But, his performance plummeted off a cliff in 2023 that had many fans, and possibly members of the front staff, concerned.

Pena only hit 10 home runs and drove in 52 runs. He was a shadow of himself in the postseason with a .200/.238/.225 slash line and no homers.

The teenage talent also has not smashed a ball over the fence since July 5 of last year.

That’s why the 26-year-old got to work almost immediately this offseason, attempting to reconstruct his swing.

Pena no longer wags his bat. He also doesn’t touch his front toe, instead he sort of slips it forward in a method he terms a “hover.”

Completely changing swings might be challenging for players as they’re straying away from their “natural” feel with the bat in their hands. That could cause extra thinking at the plate, something baseball players want to avoid.

However, the shortstop is feeling confidence in what he’s worked on and the new swing he’s constructed.

“It felt good, it felt quiet, it felt in control. That’s the whole purpose behind this, to start from a place where I feel comfortable, and I can grow off that,” he told reporters according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

He also made care to remark that it doesn’t feel natural.

Pena believes this new swing is the perfect one that will help him produce more consistently in the MLB, but it will take some getting used to.

Only time will tell if the rising star returns to the powerful batter he exhibited in 2022, or if he’s much closer to the version he was in 2023.