The Houston Astros starting shortstop is looking like he'll avoid a major injury stint after fracturing his finger.
There is always a risk to playing in the World Baseball Classic, with some teams holding their star players out due to fear of injury. For the Houston Astros, they didn’t even get that far before starting shortstop Jeremy Pena got hurt. He fractured his fingertip throwing for the Dominican Republic during an exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers on March 4 ahead of the WBC. However, it looks like the Astros avoided the worst with Pena, as they added him to the Opening Day roster Wednesday, meaning that the shortstop will avoid a stint on the injured list. That update followed Pena’s first action since his injury in an exhibition on Tuesday against Triple-A Sugar Land, where he hit a homer off his one hit in four at-bats.
Now, Pena hasn’t officially been confirmed to start on Opening Day, and the team will closely keep an eye on his finger after putting him back in action for the first time in about three weeks. But Pena thinks its more so about reps and feeling ready mentally less than his finger being a lingering concern. Barring any setbacks, should Pena keep progressing, that bolsters Houston’s infield with their usual starter.
Here is the full story from Astros Roundtable writer Sydney Cruse on Pena’s update and how that projects into the Opening Day lineup.
Pena became a first-time All-Star in his 2025 campaign, where he slashed .304/.364/.477 with an .840 OPS, 17 homers, 62 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases. That would add a lot of juice to the lineup for when Houston opens against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday at home.