Coming off of an excellent 2025 season, Jeremy Pena and the Houston Astros have been cautious with his recovery from a right ring finger fracture he suffered in the spring. Although he was deemed healthy enough to be on the opening day roster, the Astros have not yet played Pena on back-to-back days and continued that trend on Wednesday, benching him against the Red Sox.
That trend may change soon, however, as it was suggested that Pena could play two games in a row as soon as this weekend. So far, Pena has played in just three of the Astros seven games, with each game played coming two days after the previous one.
But MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reported today that "Pena could play back to back days this weekend", which provides an encouraging sign for where his health is at the moment.
Once a smaller name on a loaded Astros roster, Pena has quietly transformed into the Astro's most valuable player. Pena leads all Astros players in games played (432) and fWAR (11.2) from 2023 to 2025 (h/t Fangraphs).
And while Pena only played in 125 games in 2025, it was still his most impressive season yet. The now 28-year-old missed significant time with a fractured rib but still totaled 5.7 fWAR, 17 home runs, 62 RBI, 20 stolen bases and a .304 batting average at the plate.
For most of spring training, the Astros were noncommittal about Pena making the opening day roster after his injury. But the shortstop passed every benchmark of swinging, fielding, and playing in simulated games, and so they opted to include him on the roster.
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That doesn't mean that they have to rush Pena, however. One feature of this Astros roster is that they carry an absolute glut of talented infielders, so any day so far that Pena was absent from the lineup saw Carlos Correa take his place at short. As far as insurance goes, it doesn't get much better than having a platinum glove-winner as a backup.
In any case, Pena playing multiple games in a row this weekend would be a great sign for the Astros. Although they are off to a great start, opening the season with a 5-2 record, they're even better with Pena in the lineup every day.
In 2025, the Astros went 70-55 in games that featured Pena and 17-20 in games without him.
