March 6: General manager Dana Brown said this morning that it’s “too early” to tell if Peña will be ready for Opening Day (via Kawahara). Peña himself added that Opening Day is the goal, but he’s not yet sure how the injury will heal. That Peña and the team are even leaving the door cracked for the shortstop to be on the roster is a welcome development for Astros fans, however.
Kawahara writes that moving Correa over to shortstop would be the top option if Peña misses time, though slick-fielding utilityman Nick Allen could also get a few extra innings there. With regard to potential trades involving the Astros’ collection of infielders, Brown suggested that he’ll remain open if other clubs come calling but didn’t sound motivated to actively pursue trade scenarios while Peña is banged up.
“Right now, we like where we are,” said Brown. “We have a good club. We have pretty good depth.”
March 5: The Astros announced that shortstop Jeremy Peña has a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger. He will be reevaluated in two weeks. Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle was among those to relay the update.
Peña was playing for the Dominican Republic team yesterday in an exhibition contest against the Tigers in advance of the World Baseball Classic. In the third inning, he fielded a grounder from Wenceel Pérez behind the second base bag. Peña was able to make the play and throw out Pérez but was seen looking at his finger. He was later removed from the contest.
Yesterday, Dionisio Soldevila of Grandes en los Deportes reported that Peña had suffered a fracture. The Astros initially pushed back on that report, saying that Peña had cracked his fingernail and was still undergoing testing, but a fracture is the diagnosis after all. The WBC final is on March 17th, so it appears that the D.R. team will have to proceed without Peña at shortstop for the whole tournament.
As for the Astros, time will tell if Peña can get healthy in time for their season opener or not. They will start their campaign on March 26th, three weeks from today. Perhaps Peña will have enough time to heal up. If not, injured list stints can be backdated by three days, so there’s a potential scenario where he makes a quick trip to the IL and is back in a week.
At least temporarily, this alleviates the logjam the Astros have been facing on the position player side. For most of the offseason, trade rumors have swirled due to the club seemingly having one more infielder than necessary. Isaac Paredes has been the guy most often at the center of that trade speculation. He was Houston’s third baseman for most of last year but he suffered a significant hamstring strain which prompted the Astros to acquire Carlos Correa to replace him.
With Paredes now healthy going into 2026, the infield is a bit cluttered. On paper, the Astros have Peña at short, Correa at third, Jose Altuve at second and Christian Walker at first. Yordan Alvarez can play left field but will be the designated hitter most days. Paredes could bounce around the infield with some time in the DH spot when Alvarez in left.
It’s a bit inelegant, which has led to all the rumors, but this Peña injury also demonstrates how quickly the surplus could evaporate. If he has to miss some time, the Astros could slide Correa over to short, which would allow Paredes to have a regular playing time at third.
This Peña injury doesn’t appear to be major, so things could get tight again fairly quickly, but another injury at some point is likely. Correa and Alvarez have both had some notable injury troubles over the years. Altuve and Walker have been more reliable but Altuve will be turning 36 soon and Walker is approaching his 35th birthday. The logjam is only really a problem is everyone is healthy at the same time.
Perhaps the odds of a Paredes deal have decreased somewhat with this development. On the other hand, the Astros still want to add another lefty bat into their outfield group and appear to be against their budget limit, so there could still be a case for a Paredes trade if the right offer comes along. More information on Peña’s status and the club’s plans should be forthcoming as Opening Day gets closer.
Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images
The Astros should not let any of their players play at the WBC. 🤦♂️
That would not be fair to the players if they want to participate. The same thing could have happened to Jeremy in Spring Training. The injury didn’t happen in the WBC, it happened in an Exhibition Game.
Facts should never be part of rants.
Still related to the WBC rather than his real job, so he still has a point.
You’re right, but Injuries happen, WBC, Spring Training, or Regular Season. It’s unfortunate, but players should be able to represent their Country if they want to, it’s a great opportunity. Hopefully it’s not too serious & Jeremy will be ready for opening day.
You’re being far too reasonable.
There is nothing patriotic about it when you have some players playing for a country that their grandma or someone was from because they weren’t good enough to make the US team. The whole thing is a sham. They’re playing to get out of the boringness of Spring Training.
Slider: Some people take pride in their heritage. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nobody said they were doing it to be patriotic.
The whole thing is designed to promote baseball internationally and it works. Yes you’re not going to fill a team with Dutch nationals and have competitive baseball. That’s exactly why the tournament exists. It’s so that one day baseball might popular enough in the Netherlands so that they can.
I get that and agree, but people are making it our to be the Olympics
Players get hurt every day in baseball. Under your ridiculous idea better cancel the regular season. Sad. The game got hurt in wasn’t even part of wbc anyway.
Remember when you wished death on over half of MLB?
It should be negotiated in contracts. You get a $1 million bonus to go to ST over WBC.
@100 That goes against MLB’s long-term interest of wanting to showcase itself as the universal premiere league.
They could kill two birds with one stone and combine the ideas of WBC and spring training prospect tournament(the one they just announced can’t remember what it’s called). MLB players have a good excuse not to play and they get to promote the sport and the up and comers
But some players would actually get more playtime (and need it) during the WBC than they would in regular spring training.
My point is there isn’t a one rule fit all type situation and there are no easy answers.
Pretty easy to say when its someone else’s money. Oh, just give ’em an extra million dollars. If I’m an owner paying a player millions of dollars, I’m certainly going to have the final say as to whether they play in some extracurricular tournament. If they get hurt during the regular season, so be it. But not playing in the WBC. And don’t even go there with some nonsense about player’s rights to do what they want, etc. They don’t exist. If I’m paying the freight, I’m calling the shots.
And people who think like this are why unions like the MLBPA exist. Employing someone and owning their existence are two different things. And yet some employers can’t figure out the difference.
What you fail to consider in this equation is that you’re not paying this person millions because you’re a kind soul. You’re doing it because they have skill you desire. And yet somehow in this relationship you feel you hold all the cards even though there are very few people who have that skill.
@Irbias- Then you become perceived as a crappy dictator-type and anti-union owner and nobody signs with you as a free agent. Your star players speak out against you or publicly request trades. All your homegrown talent leaves the minute they become free agents. Your team never wins because of all of this and your fans hate you.
Sound strategy.
Dang that’s a tough break (pun unintended), particularly to happen again to the Astros.
Roster crunches always seem to work themselves out
Bummer, man.
WBC always seems to claim some victim to injury.
Wait till you see how many victims are claimed by spring training!
So much for trading Paredes 🤣
This
Don’t think this changes anything. Pena won’t be out long, maybe a week according to the article. But the Astros have to deal with that OF all season long.
Their offense just got a boost by finding a spot to put nick allens bat in the lineup.
Correa slides over to SS and Paredes plays 3B
And Astros pitchers weep.
yeah, that IF defense is not pretty
Doesn’t Parades already play 3B? Isn’t that why they traded for him last winter?
But then he got hurt and they traded for Correa. Now
He projects more as a bench/platoon guys playing 1B/3B/DH with Alvarez in LF some days
Shay Whitcomb hitting bombs, reading the news, saying he’s ready.
The “pitcher” KOR faced yesterday had a fastball that topped out at 81 mph.
Shay Whitcomb has nothing left to prove in the minors and the Astros seemed reluctant to give him a true opportunity at the major league level. I hate to say this, but they should trade him. He’s too good to remain in triple AAA.
I wonder if the Astros will get an insurance claim payout. Assuming Pena misses regular season game time.
He’ll be out 2 to 3 weeks nothing significant
When it comes to announcing an injury diagnosis I’ll take the word of the DR over Houston’s every day of the week.
Oh, so true.
I hope he doesn’t miss much of the regular season.
He won’t. Pena’s injury is nothing close to what Altuve suffered
That’s a good problem to have, 5 All-Star infielders for 4 spots. Everyone can stay fresh and there’s no drop in quality if someone is out for a couple of weeks. It’s a long season, I’d rather have too many than too little quality depth players. These sport writers will try to stir up anything just to print a story.
5 All-Star infielders for 4 spots.
I hope.
Any chance Brice Matthews might make the team now?
Nothing changed with this injury. Matthews best bet is if Meyers is traded/injured so he can take over center field. And I feel confident Matthews will add enough arm strength to be the next SS.
Before reading how this injury happened. I was gonna ask if he got his finger slammed into his car door or something. Sounds like a freak accident. Hoping he has a fast and full recovery
Was thinking recycling bin
Here we go again. Losing a great player to an injury suffered in these meaningless games
Please find a place for Brice Matthews!!
Correa with neck stiffness.
From too much banging on the trash can?