The Launch Angle

As you can likely surmise from the title of this post, we got an update about the status of Jeremy Peña, who left Wednesday’s WBC exhibition game after three innings between the Tigers and Team Dominican Republic with a right ring finger injury.

Those pesky groundballs, y’all.

As mhatter106 discussed yesterday, the Astros have some internal options to cover shortstop in Peña’s absence. Carlos Correa feels like the most likely candidate to slide over to the position, with Isaac Paredes in that scenario playing third base. This roster also has Nick Allen, who won’t impress anyone with the bat, but he is the best defensive option at the position. Heck, even Paredes has played shortstop in the past, though I am not sure you want him there more than as an emergency appearance at most.

With Peña set to be reevaluated in two weeks, it creates some serious doubt about whether he’ll be ready for Opening Day in three weeks. But any absence that extends into Opening Day and beyond would alleviate that much-speculated infield logjam, albeit temporarily. While I wouldn’t entirely rule out a trade of Paredes in the near future, the discussion could be put on hold until Peña is fully back. If so, then expect an Opening Day infield to include Christian Walker at first, Jose Altuve at second, Correa at shortstop, and Paredes at third.

Losing Peña, even if a short-term roadblock, stings for the Astros. He finally took that step forward in his game, particularly as a hitter, in 2025. Simply put, they’re better with him than without. But fingers crossed that any absence doesn’t extend much past Opening Day if he does miss time.

Let us know what you think, either in the comments or in the Launch Angle discord chat server. I think we’re all taking this news in stride, or, more likely, still reeling from last year’s injury avalanche.