After hitting his ninth home run of the year a few hours earlier, Wily Mo Pena insisted there was nothing special behind his hot start to the year.

He didn't discover any new techniques, have any game-changing epiphanies or anything of the sort. No, the major difference between this year and the last is that for the first time in a long time, Pena simply feels good, and that has translated into production at the plate.

"The key is that I'm healthy," Pena told The Japan Times on Friday at Seibu Dome. "Last year I wasn't healthy. I had a huge problem with my knee. That's why I wasn't able to hit, why I wasn't able to do anything."