Peña has fracture in finger; out of Classic

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Astros All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña will be sidelined for at least two weeks after suffering a fracture to the tip of his right ring finger in an exhibition game Wednesday between the Dominican Republic and the Detroit Tigers in Santo Domingo, D.R., the team announced Thursday.

The injury will take Peña out of the World Baseball Classic, which is set to begin Friday. He was starting at shortstop for the Dominican team in Wednesday’s exhibition, when a hard-hit ground ball by Wenceel Pérez in the third inning struck his finger. He stayed in the game for one at-bat and struck out before being taken for X-rays.

Peña was diagnosed with the fracture after being examined by a hand specialist Thursday in Florida. He will remain in camp with the Astros and will be wearing a splint on the finger.

“Not what I wanted to hear,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

It’s unclear if the injury will affect Peña’s status for Opening Day, which is three weeks away. But if any team is capable of absorbing an injury to one of their infielders, it’s the Astros. They’ve been trying to trade third baseman Isaac Paredes all offseason to help clear up a logjam on their infield.

Espada said as camp started he preferred to keep Carlos Correa -- who made the move from shortstop to third base when he was traded back to the Astros last July -- at third base, but said Thursday he will give Correa some starts at shortstop in Grapefruit League play. Nick Allen will continue to play shortstop.

“We do have some really good players on this roster, especially on the infield,” Espada said. “We have players right now that can hold our foundation, and hopefully this is not going to be for a long period of time. We do have some guys that can hold the fort as we get Jeremy back.”

Houston veteran first baseman Christian Walker agreed.

“He’s our go-to guy and it’s hard to replace anybody, but I think we can weather the storm until he gets back,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll bounce back quickly.”

Peña, who took over at shortstop for Correa in 2022 and won World Series MVP that fall, is coming off his best season. He made his first All-Star team in '25 and was named the club’s Most Valuable Player for the first time after slashing .304/.363/.477 with 17 homers, 62 RBIs and 20 steals in 125 games, mostly as Houston’s leadoff hitter.

Peña missed the month of July -- and the All-Star Game -- with a fractured rib and didn’t play in the final week of the regular season because of a strained left oblique. The injuries helped derail the Astros’ run of eight consecutive trips to the postseason, with Houston missing the playoffs by one game.

Peña is one of only three Astros players competing in the WBC this year, joining Zach Dezenzo (Italy) and Shay Whitcomb (Korea), who blasted two home runs Thursday in Korea’s win Thursday over Czechia. Jose Altuve (Venezuela) and Correa (Puerto Rico) had originally agreed to play, but they had to pull out over insurance issues. Altuve fractured his right thumb in the 2023 WBC and missed the first 43 games of the regular season.

The Astros have been actively shopping Paredes throughout the offseason and into Spring Training to try to clear up their infield surplus issue, but those plans might be on hold until they get a better idea of when Peña will return from his injury.

Paredes was acquired from the Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade in December 2024 and was elected to the All-Star team last year for Houston. He was slashing .259/.359/.470 with a team-high 19 homers and 50 RBIs in 93 games and was among the league leaders in walks when he suffered a severe right hamstring strain July 19 in Seattle.

By the time Paredes returned to action two months later, the Astros had acquired Correa from the Twins and moved him to third base, which created the infield glut that now could be to the Astros’ benefit.