This Post Is The Sound Of A Happy Boy

The Globe's beat man Chris Snow's most recent post (from a couple hours ago) has some good Wily Mo stuff.

Short version: he's happy as the #4 outfielder, despite knowing he would have started in Cincinnati, and he considers himself a CF / RF, but played 1B in winter ball and has volunteered to play wherever Tito needs him. Notable quotes from Snow:

Wily Mo Pena just took batting practice. He hit some absolute bombs -- one off the scoreboard in left center, one over the scoreboard, and a smattering onto the field behind the left-field wall.

[***]

Pena, who was to start in left field for the Reds, said he's OK with a part-time role.

"That's ok," he said. "They told me they're going to give me a chance against the lefty. I'm going to play a lot against lefties. So I have to make the opportunity. When the opportunity comes I have to be ready. I know I was going to be a starter in Cincinnati. So I have to adjust my game and keep working hard."

[***]

Pena said he played first base in the Dominican during winter ball but Francona said he'll be strictly an outfielder.

"The best I play is center field and right field," he said. "Like I told them, if they need me everywhere I just need to be ready."

[***]

Asked how much he weighs, he said: "About 250. I guess." He stopped to wag his tongue, suggesting he could be a bit bulkier, though it looks to be largely muscle. "When I get here I was like 260. I said to myself, I have to get down to 250, 245."

While I recognize that there are issues to be determined (whether his "team first" attitude holds up through the season, whether his K/BB ratio is too infuriating to deal with on a nightly basis, whether "Trot vs. Wily Mo" becomes yet another media soap opera), the immediate concerns have been alleviated. He's crushing the shit out of the ball, he appears to show appreciation for Fenway and Boston, and he's OK with sitting behind Trot for a while and dealing exclusively with lefties. In other words, so far so good.

One other positive to Pena's arrival is it means more puns in the headlines. "Free Wily," "Wily Or Won't He," "Wily: Wonkah!" etc. I, for one, endorse the use of the word "Wonkah!" in any form, but I recommend its use as shorthand for a home run that clears the Monstah and breaks a windshield across Lansdowne Street. I suspect Wily Mo will do that a couple times this year.