Houston’s 7-2 lead on Saturday turned into an 8-7 loss to the Mariners, and the tough loss also contained yet another injury concern for the struggling Astros. Shortstop Jeremy Pena left the game in the fourth inning due to what the team described as right posterior knee tightness, and Pena told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters postgame that he’ll undergo imaging today.
The knee tightness first arose on Friday in a more limited fashion, Pena said, and he didn’t let the training staff know about the issue since it faded as Friday’s game went on. “I didn’t tell anybody, which I probably should have,” Pena said. “I woke up today feeling pretty good, went into the game feeling really good, and then it tightened up on me.”
The issue resurfaced when Pena was running the bases on Saturday. After reaching on a single, Pena advanced to second base on a Yordan Alvarez fly ball, and then to third after Isaac Paredes singled. Once he reached third base, Pena indicated some discomfort in his knee and was removed for pinch-runner Nick Allen. Pena downplayed the severity of his injury and felt his removal was just a “precaution,” though “we’ll have a better understanding…after we get some imaging done.”
Injuries have already been a factor for Pena in 2026, as he sustained a small fracture in the tip of his right ring finger while playing in an exhibition game for the Dominican Republic’s team in advance of the World Baseball Classic. Pena was able to avoid the injured list, though the Astros have played him in only 10 of the team’s 15 games as a way of allowing some extra rest and recovery time until his finger was fully healed.
Houston’s next off-day isn’t until April 23, so Pena don’t have the benefit of any built-in schedule help if he needs a day or two to rest up his knee. The Astros are deep enough in the infield to get by if Pena only misses a bit of time, or has a minimal 10-day IL stint — Carlos Correa can slide over from third base to shortstop, and Paredes can then take over at third base.
That being said, the last thing the Astros need is another injury situation given how the club has already been plagued by poor health. Most of the hits have come on the pitching side (Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and closer Josh Hader are just three of the eight pitchers on the IL), and the lineup is also missing Jake Meyers to a Grade 2 oblique strain.
