BOSTON, MA -- Having witnessed the emergence of Bronson Arroyo as a hitter since his arrival in Cincinnati, the Boston Red Sox are hoping to have similar success with Wily Mo Peña on the mound.

The Red Sox traded pitcher Arroyo to the Reds for outfield slugger Peña on March 20. Boston knew the power hitter Peña was a work in progress, but they didn't expect to lose home runs with the deal. While Peña's best demonstration of strength in the young 2006 season has come on a double, Arroyo has hit a home run in each of the two games he's started.

“We send our pitcher to Cincy and suddenly he's a hitter,” said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. “It is logical that the inverse would also be true.”

Peña will take the mound Saturday against Seattle. He's excited about the opportunity. “I can do this well,” said Peña. “I know a thing or two about strike-outs.”

Asked to comment, Reds' manager Jerry Narron was dismissive. “You think if Wily Mo could pitch we would have traded him?” he asked.

Still, Red Sox' manager Terry Francona is optimistic about Peña's performance on the mound. “The way I see it,” said Francona. “He was already giving up home runs in right field, so this move can't make things worse.”

“Besides,” added Francona, “If we can make a good enough pitcher out of him, maybe we can trade back.”

Promoted from the diaries:

According to Marc, Ken Griffey, Jr. looked “awkward” in his final at-bat before Ryan Freel took his place in center field just now in the fourth inning.

Hope he's OK. And I mean really OK, not I-can-struggle-through-the-pain OK. We've seen how that works out.

Here I was, thinking maybe Jerry Narron was getting Freel into the game before the 1 or 2 runs he might be able to generate would be pointless.

P.S. - I'm putting this in a diary because I can't figure out how to put up a proper post at work. I'm lost without my crack technical staff.

Profile: Edwin Encarnacion in the Cincinnati Enquirer

Player Information on Reds.com

Profile: Edwin Encarnacion in the Cincinnati Enquirer

Player Information on Reds.com

Edwin Encarnación was born on Janary 7, 1983 in La Romana in the Dominican Republic, where I guess he still lives. His entire biography on the official Reds site is:

Attended Manuel Toro High School in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

I think the thing is that little Eddie is too young to have much of a biography yet. I don’t believe he’s married, I don’t think he’s particularly involved in any causes, and he hasn’t been involved in any scandals. Plus, I’m not sure how confident he is in his English, so he might shy away from reporters. It’s not much of a profile, but he seems to just be a good kid finding his way in the majors.

That being said, his favorite television program is S´bado Gigante, a colorful variety show hosted by Don Fransisco. You may remember Don Fransisco as the man who interviewed Sammy Sosa.

OK, now I’m really stretching for content. I’ll stop now.