Jeremy

Peña

Peña started slow in his return from the injured list, but he’s now hit in nine consecutive starts, going 14-for-37 with three homers, 14 runs scored and nine RBI. Tonight was the second time in a week and the seventh time in his career that he scored three runs in a game.

Peña put one over the Crawford Boxes today, hitting a Brandon Sproat sweeper 392 feet to left. After going his first 17 games without one, Peña has homered in three of his last four starts to rebound to .273/.323/.420 for the season.

Peña didn’t waste any time getting the Astros on the board in this one, launching a 2-1 splitter from Nathan Eovaldi for a 424-foot (108.8 mph EV) solo shot to open the ballgame. He also reached on an infield single in the eighth inning. With his two-hit attack, Peña is now slashing .256/.311/.378 with two homers, six RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 90 plate appearances on the season.

None of Peña’s four balls in play today were hit hard. He’s 4-for-20 with no walks since coming off the injured list earlier this week and he’s batting just .238/.279/.302 in 15 games overall, so perhaps he shouldn’t be leading off right now. Alas, the alternatives aren’t great, either. Besides Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes (currently hitting third, fourth and second, respectively), the only healthy Astro with a .300 OBP this year is Christian Vásquez at .324.

Peña returns to Houston’s lineup following a five-week absence recovering from a hamstring strain. The 28-year-old shortstop, who also missed time at the start of the year due to a fractured finger, has been snake-bitten by injuries this season, appearing in just 10 games so far.

Peña returned to action after sitting out a couple rehab contests earlier this week following an on-field collision that left him dealing with neck soreness. The 28-year-old shortstop played Friday’s entire game at shortstop and should be ready to return to Houston at some point next week. He’s likely to get a couple additional games under his belt this weekend prior to being activated.

Peña was involved in a frightening-looking collision at second base where he was upended and landed on his back during his first rehab contest on Tuesday night at Double-A Corpus Christi. Amazingly, he managed to stay in the contest afterwards. He’ll continue participating in baseball activities, but he’s going to get some time off to rest and recover following the incident. It doesn’t sound like he’ll make it back to Houston’s lineup this week.

It was an eventful rehab debut for Peña as he doubled in his first at-bat of the contest before being upended on a scary-looking play at second base a couple frames later. He was lifted from the contest after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, but appeared to be fine afterwards. The 28-year-old shortstop has been snake-bitten by injuries this season, missing time with a fractured finger and hamstring strain already. He’ll get a couple more rehab games under his belt before returning to Houston’s lineup later this week.

It sounds like Peña, who has been on the shelf working his way back from a hamstring strain since April 13, will spend most of this week on a rehab assignment. It makes sense since he’s been out of game action for nearly an entire month. There’s a chance he’s ready to return to Houston at some point later this week, but fantasy managers shouldn’t count on it. He’ll make his minor league rehab debut with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday night.

Astros manager Joe Espada said Friday that Peña could begin a minor league rehab assignment in the next couple days. The 28-year-old shortstop has been out recovering from a hamstring strain since April 13. He figures to make it back to Houston’s lineup at some point in the next week or two.