WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A dejected Jeremy Peña strolled into the Astros’ clubhouse on Friday morning, sitting in a corner and talking quietly with Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve. A few other teammates came over to wish him the best, knowing Peña’s disappointment of not being able to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic was still raw.
Peña, the Astros’ All-Star shortstop, was wearing a removable splint on his right ring finger, which he fractured at the tip during an exhibition game Wednesday between the Dominican Republic and the Detroit Tigers in Santo Domingo, D.R. Peña will be evaluated in two weeks, which puts his availability for Opening Day in limbo.
“It sucks,” Peña said Friday. “I feel like the last 48 hours have been very uncertain, but it is what it is. It’s part of the game. Injuries are a part of the game. I wish I was out there playing with the guys. We have a great team. The [Dominican Republic] team's ready to go, though. I’ll be rooting, watching the game and cheering the team on.”
Peña will continue to do baseball drills on the back fields during the next week and maintain his workouts so he’ll be in position to jump back into games when he can resume swinging a bat without pain. The Astros open the regular season March 26 against the Angels.
“The goal is to try to be ready for Opening Day,” Peña said. “I don’t know how it’s going to heal, I don’t know what the process is going to be like, but the goal is always to try to join the team for Opening Day.”
Here are some other questions concerning Peña’s injury:
Who would play shortstop with Peña out?
Astros manager Joe Espada said Carlos Correa will see some game action this spring at shortstop, which is the position he played his entire career before moving to third base when Houston traded for him in July. He has worked out exclusively at third base so far this spring, but would move to shortstop, with Isaac Paredes at third base.
“Obviously, he’s our first option at short and I don’t think he will need a ton of games there, but I will give him some games once he gets back,” Espada said of Correa, who was scratched from Friday’s lineup with a stiff neck. “I will still continue to play him at third, will continue to play Paredes some at second base, just preparing for our season. And Nick Allen will also get some starts at short.”
Does the Peña injury rule out trading Paredes?
Not necessarily. The Astros would still like to make a deal to acquire a left-handed-hitting outfielder, and Paredes and/or center fielder Jake Meyers could be part of a package to make that happen. The chances of trading Paredes remain “slim,” a source says, but the Astros desperately need a left-handed bat to put into their lineup against opposing right-handers. That would help break up some of their right-handed hitters -- Correa, Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith.
After acquiring outfielder Joey Loperfido from the Blue Jays at the start of camp, general manager Dana Brown said: “We’re not done yet.” A deal could become easier to consummate in the next week to 10 days when other teams get a better idea of their roster construction.
“If a team calls, we’ll still listen,” Brown said. “Ultimately, we’re not making any decisions that are going to [negatively] affect our team. Right now, we like where we are. We have a good club, we have pretty good depth, we’re still trying to make some decisions in the outfield. We feel great about our rotation, we have a few decisions to make in our ‘pen. Ultimately, this is a really good team and I look forward to having some success out of this club.”
Will the Astros, who have revamped their return-to-play procedure in the wake of last year’s staggering number of injuries, err on the side of caution with Peña ?
Brown: “I don’t think the word is caution. We will evaluate, we allow people to have their opinion as to what they think and when he should return, or whoever the player may be. And then we’ll take advantage of the smart people that we have around us.”