HOUSTON -- Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña is headed to the 10-day injured list with a small fracture in one of the ribs on his left side, the club announced Monday. Peña was hit by a pitch in the second inning of Friday’s game against the Cubs and removed a couple of innings later.
X-rays performed Friday did not reveal the injury, the team said, but an MRI and CT scan performed Sunday showed the fracture. Peña is with the team in Denver, where it will open a series against the Rockies on Tuesday, and is receiving treatment.
Peña can come off the IL on July 8, which means the Astros won’t have him for the road trip against the Rockies or the Dodgers this weekend.
“From talking to doctors, there’s some NFL players that play with this, but it’s a pain-tolerance thing,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said. “If he feels like he’s fine after a week, we’ll start some baseball activity. We can give him some things to do, and he might be able to play through it as it heals.
“This isn’t one of those things where you have to be sidelined the whole time. Once the inflammation goes down, he might feel good enough to swing a bat. It’s more how much can he tolerate, which means he could come back soon after the 10 days. That’s why he’s on the trip, to get treatment and maybe, potentially get back as soon as he can.”
A corresponding roster move will be announced Tuesday.
Peña has been the Astros’ best player this year and is slashing .322/.378/.489 with 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He had played in every game before sitting out Saturday and Sunday against the Cubs. He’s hitting a Major League-best .354 with a .941 OPS in 55 games since being moved to the leadoff spot.
Mauricio Dubón started at shortstop Saturday and Sunday and likely gets most of the playing time at the position until Peña returns.