June 30th: The Astros officially placed Peña on the IL today and recalled Delgado.
June 29th: The Astros are placing Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a mild left calf strain, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic). The club is hopeful it’ll be a minimal absence.
Peña reported left leg discomfort and sat out tonight’s loss to the Twins. He’ll evidently need at least a week and a half to rehab the injury even if the Astros have downplayed the severity. The All-Star Break is two weeks from now, so the club could play things safe and keep him down until then. Their final series before the Break is a big one, though, as they’ll head to Arlington for a three-game set against the division leading Rangers from June 10-12.
This is the second IL stint of the season for Peña. A right hamstring strain cost him more than a month between mid-April and May. Peña also played through a broken finger, which he’d suffered during the lead-up to the World Baseball Classic, to begin the season. He has played well when healthy, batting .295/.356/.443 while anchoring the infield defensively.
Nick Allen just came back from his own IL stay and got the nod at shortstop tonight. He’ll presumably step into the starting lineup for the time being. Allen isn’t going to contribute offensively but has an excellent glove. Houston optioned Raynel Delgado as the corresponding move to activate Allen from the injured list. They’ll probably bring him right back up as an extra infielder, at least until Braden Shewmake is ready to return from the adductor strain that has cost him all of June.
