SEATTLE -- Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña is set to undergo further testing Sunday after leaving Saturday’s 8-7 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park with right posterior knee tightness.
Peña was removed from the game in the fourth inning as a precaution. He said he felt the back of his knee tighten up while advancing from first to second base on a fly ball off the bat of Yordan Alvarez. He went to third on a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Nick Allen.
"It’s still a little bit tight,” Peña said postgame. “But like I said, I don’t think it’s something too bad. Just stay on top of things and we’ll have a better understanding of what it is tomorrow after we get some imaging done.”
Peña admitted he felt the knee tightness “a little bit” during Friday’s series opener, but it went away.
"I didn’t tell anyone, which I probably should have,” he said. “I woke up today feeling pretty good and went into the game feeling really good and then it tightened up on me. I think it’s best to stay on top of it.”
Coming off a career season, Peña is off to a slow start this year because of health. He fractured the ring finger on his right hand during an exhibition game while playing for the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic team in March, which took him out of the tournament.
Peña began the season on the Astros’ active roster but didn’t begin starting every day at shortstop until a week ago. Peña went 1-for-3 on Saturday and is slashing .256/.304/.349 with no homers in 10 games this year.
Peña, who took over at shortstop for Carlos 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.