Astros optimistic for quick Jeremy Peña return after oblique injury

Douglas Santo

•
Astros optimistic for quick Jeremy Peña return after oblique injury image

As if the Houston Astros' weekend series against the Seattle Mariners couldn't have gone any worse, the Astros suffered another injury on top of being swept.

Houston is already without star slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is dealing with a left ankle sprain, for at least the first half of its final road trip in California.

On Saturday, Jeremy Peña injured his oblique trying to avoid a ball hit to second base. Peña stayed in the game but was scratched from the lineup ahead of Sunday's series finale.

Astros Reveal Optimistic Peña Injury News

Peña was removed from the Astros' lineup on Sunday, but his oblique injury doesn't seem to be anything serious.

Astros' GM Dana Brown said on the Astros' pre-game radio show on Sunday that Peña will get imaging done on Monday, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome.

"But we feel like this could be just a two-day thing," Brown said. "It's minor based on the initial evaluation of it."

The Astros' star shortstop spoke with reporters before the game and shared a similar sentiment.

"We don’t know much about it yet. I don’t feel too bad," Peña said. "I don’t want to give a timeline yet, but I feel good at the moment."

The hope is Peña's lineup scratch on Sunday was more precautionary, as the star shortstop hit a grand slam on Saturday after he injured his oblique earlier in the game.

Peña has had an outstanding season for the Astros, breaking out with a .304 average and an .840 OPS. The young shortstop made his first All-Star game and has 17 home runs and 62 RBI this year.

The Astros have six games to try to save their hopes at a 2025 playoff run and getting Peña back would be a huge boost.

Brown said the Astros feel like it would be a two-day thing on Sunday. With Houston's off-day on Monday, there's a chance Peña could return on Tuesday and only miss one game - yesterday against the Mariners.

The final verdict should come on Monday, once the Astros get the results back from Peña's imaging.

Douglas Santo

Douglas Santo is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. As a senior at Arizona State University, he will complete his B.A. in sports journalism with a minor in business in December 2025. Before his time with Sporting News, Douglas covered the NFL and MLB for Athlon Sports and contributed as a digital reporter for Arizona PBS/Cronkite News. He is also the head of Sun Devil Daily, managing all content produced about Arizona State Sports.